Someone I can Love
by Lee Totema
Summary: Sequel. A decade after they meet they meet again but under dire circumstances when someone in demon world is bent on unsealing a demon that will cause a war to break out between the 3 worlds, can they stop the unsealing in time or will they fail knowing it could very well kill the other person they so desperately love? Rated T for swearing and violence KuramaxOC COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Yay! Finally get to restart this again after so long! Really I'm so lazy ok here are some facts if you are reading this.**

**one: this is a sequel to another story of mine, you'll probably get confused if you don't read the first one but if you choose to skip it and just read it then that's your choice  
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**second: this story happens two years after the main story line Yusuke is 19 years old as is Kuwabara, and Shuichi is 20 years old and Hiei, is who knows really xD.  
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**third: This will be a love story between an OC and Shuichi, if you don't like then please don't read.  
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**I got this review saying that people are starting to flag stories with mature content and other things that they don't like simply because they can. If you don't like a story stop reading it and move on, don't make such a big deal out of it and ruin other people's stories just because you don't like it, If my story gets taken down because someone doesn't like it, I'll just post it again :3 there hah!  
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**Anyway, I don't own any characters except Naota, Yasu and Hikaru, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho nor will I ever, last disclaimer, now enjoy!  
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A tall figure stands on a building, looking over the humans as they passed by, his long silver hair in a ponytail and his face partially blocked by his long bangs and mask. His golden eyes were cold as he surveyed the city in the night. His eyes shifted as he heard someone approaching him from behind. He looked over his shoulder and saw something kneeling down on one knee. She had her bright orange red hair in ponytail, held up by gold rings. Her long ears were like an elves but were frayed and almost looked liked wings. She looked up at him, her pupils slit like a felines and blood red, her eyelashes long. Her clothing consisted of almost a belly dancers.

"Sir are you sure you want us to deliver the fake scroll in the human world? Isn't this a bit risky considering the new spirit detective and the ex detective in this city?" She said.

"If they are so weak that they can't even defend nor run away from them then they deserve to die, you know we can't have weaklings in our defenses Tanya." She looked towards the ground, her eyes sympathetic. He resumed looking out in the city. "You should join the team, remember if they get through the barrier then kill everyone on the team." Tanya looked at him with wide eyes. "Remember than our revolution cannot continue if we have weaklings or traitors. This will ensure that no one can be captured. If you think you are too overwhelmed then pass these around." He walked over to her, reached into his pocket and retrieved a bag. She stood up and took it.

"Are these...?" She started.

"Yes these are the pills that our tactician has been working on. Tell your team that if any of them were to get captured then to immediately swallow it. Then they will not be cowards but instead martyrs working towards our true goal." He said and she gulped. "Keep surveying the area Tanya then return to demon world with your findings."

"And you sir?" She asked, putting away the pills.

"I will remain and watch over our cattle. Tell the negotiator to ready himself for turning the ones in our list." He said and she nodded, disappearing from view. He looked towards the stars and took off his mask. He took a deep breath and also disappeared from view.

00000

"I still can't believe you didn't go to college Shuichi." She said. She had long brown hair wear a simple blouse and skirt, her sweater draped over her chair as she sips on her hot coffee.

"I found working is a lot more enjoyable than spending hours studying a career that might not even make me happy." He said, his red hair going past his shoulders, wearing a white long sleeved shirt and jeans. "But I'm more surprised by the fact that you were able to even get engaged Hikaru."

"I know it's so amazing! He's so strong and sweet to me and his smile makes me melt!" Hikaru gushed. Shuichi smiled, also sipping coffee.

"Hard to believe he would choose a gorilla woman such as yourself." He said nonchalantly.

"Hard to believe you haven't gotten a single girl when you look like one." Hikaru said back. Shuichi sweatdropped. "But anyways, I had to tell you that Naota is coming back, you know my old apartment? We're renting out to her. She says she'll probably be back within the week, isn't that awesome! We finally get to see her after almost a decade!"

"Yes." Shuichi smiled softly. A waitress came by and gave them their check. Shuichi reached over to check it over.

"Don't worry Akage, it's on me because I have money since I have a job now and money." Hikaru said, smirking.

"You said money twice." Shuichi said. Hikaru giggled and pulled out her purse and wallet.

"I know it's so amazing to have money, I love working, I just wish my coworkers wouldn't look at me like I'm too young for this job." Hikaru said, taking out a couple of bills and getting up to pay. Shuichi followed her. They came out, people walking around even though it's slightly late, the neon lights lighting up the city. Hikaru and Shuichi randomly talked about things, walking down the street when they were stopped.

"Hey Kurama!" Someone shouted. Hikaru and Shuichi turned back to see a young man with his hair slicked back in a green sweater with a white shirt underneath came up to them. A taller guy was behind him, his orange hair stood out especially with his hairstyle.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara, how nice to see you two." Shuichi said.

"Yea what are you doing out this late? A date?" Yusuke said smirking.

"Uh huh, me and Shuichi dating, wow that's even worse than all the horror movies put together." Hikaru said. Yusuke blinked twice.

"Forgive her Yusuke, this is my childhood friend Hikaru, we were only catching up." Shuichi said.

"Oh you never said anything about her." Yusuke said.

"Yea you never even had friends really in high school either Shuichi, so who are these guys?" Hikaru asked, crossing her arms.

"This is Yusuke and the one behind him is Kuwabara we met when I stole the mirror to save my mother." Shuichi said. Hikaru 'oh-ed.'

"Woah! Hey you think you should be telling her the truth Kurama?" Yusuke said.

"Don't worry she knows everything, after all her powers are just like yours." Shuichi explained and Hikaru smirked.

"No way, never saw a pretty girl with spirit powers, or at least the ones that weren't human." Kuwabara muttered.

"Thank you for the compliment." Hikaru said sarcastically. Kuwabara looked at his watched and slapped his forehead.

"How'd it get this late! I gotta go Urameshi, my sister is gonna strangle me if I don't do good in my next test." Kuwabara said, saying good bye to everyone.

"So why were you and Kuwabara out here?" Shuichi asked. Yusuke's face turned slightly serious.

"Kuwabara told me how he'd kept sensing some demonic energy around here and finally told me that they're all gathering in the park in the middle of the city. I was going over there to kick some demon butt, wanna join?" Yusuke said.

"Of course." Shuichi said.

"Hey what am I chopped liver? You ain't gonna ask me to go with you guys? Who knows you might need the extra muscle." Hikaru said.

"Of course, your gorilla skills will come in handy when distracting them." Shuichi said and Hikaru hit him over the head.

"What you say you freaking transvestite? I can't even hit you hard enough because you look so much like a girl!" Hikaru exclaimed, Yusuke surprised by the way they act around each other. They started walking towards the park, Hikaru hanging in the back and Yusuke walking to match Shuichi's speed.

"Weird how you let a girl hit you Kurama, I've never seen that happen before." Yusuke said.

"We've been together for a very long time, it's the only way we can act around each other without feeling awkward. We were three, there is another friend of mine but she has not been around for a decade, but Hikaru told me that she is moving home again. I'm very happy to hear that." Shuichi said, his voice growing a bit softer when mentioning Naota. Yusuke took note for future references but shut his mouth as they walked further in the park. They came in a clearing and saw demon corpses everywhere, strewn about. Yusuke, Shuichi and Hikaru became more aware. Shuichi noticed a person standing in the carnage and gasped when he recognized him.

"Yasu." Shuichi said. A man turned, his face slightly splattered with blood but his clothes were drenched with it. His hair long enough to cup his face, his icy blue eyes penetrated the emerald ones that Shuichi held. In his hand was a scroll tightly wounded with seals. He smiled.

"Well now, isn't this a fantastic place for us to meet again, Shuichi." Yasu said, putting emphasis on Shuichi's name. He immediately took out his whip and Yusuke got into a fighting position.

"So you know this guy?" Yusuke said. Shuichi glared at Yasu.

"Yes he is not to be trifled with, seeing the massacre here, that was probably his doing." Shuichi said.

"What? He killed all these demons?" Yusuke exclaimed.

"With little to no force I believe." Shuichi said.

"You have grown, dare I say, more beautiful Shuichi. Of course nothing can compare the difference of Hikaru's change." Yasu said.

"Why thank you, and you seem to be the same bastard that we grew up with Yasu." Hikaru said and Yasu smirked.

"I try my hardest." Yasu said. "Now if you'll excuse me." He turned his back on them and Shuichi used his whip to grab his arm. Some blood started trickling from the pressure. "Do you intend to dismember my arm just like before or do you intend to kill me, my dear Shuichi." Yasu said mockingly.

"I was unable to before, but let me assure you, I will not hold back this time." He started to pull back when some bushes began rustling.

"Yasu? Hey I was able to finally capture someone that didn't, HOLY SHIT!" A girl exclaimed. Her hair up in a ponytail with a few bangs and her golden eyes surveying the carnage. She was wearing a long sleeved cotton black shirt and jeans. She sighed and put her head in her free hand, in the other she was towing a demon that was restrained with rope. "Did you do this again? I thought I told you we needed a survivor! Jeez, you were going to waste all that time we tried locating their rendezvous point for your little penchant for killing everyone?" She said walking towards him.

"Truthfully they all began killing each other and then one swallowed the scrolled, I retrieved it." Yasu said. She looked at him with a disbelieving look considering that most demons wouldn't kill each other so horribly. Shuichi's whip loosened and lost their grip when he saw who it was. Shuichi took one step towards her.

"Na-"

"Naota!" Hikaru exclaimed with tears in her eyes and giving her a bear hug, lifting her off the ground.

"Hikaru!" Naota was surprised in finding her friend there.

"Wow, what a small world, I missed you so much, now why didn't you say you were coming back today!" Hikaru said, punching her head. "Really you couldn't give me a freaking heads up or something, or was I not important enough huh!" Hikaru said, pulling on Naota's cheeks.

"I'm showwy Hikaruh." Naota said through pulled cheeks. Hikaru hugged her again in relief and sobbed loudly.

"I missed you so much! I'm so happy, I'm so happy you're here again." Hikaru said and Naota patted her shoulder, smiling with tears in her eyes.

"I missed you too Hikaru." The demon that was restrained started to wake up. As Naota was distracted, he tried to wiggle his way out of there before Naota kicked him down again. "Oh no you don't, you're not leaving until I get the info I was sent here to retrieve. Now, who's your leader? What are his plans?" Naota asked. The demon chuckled.

"You really think I'm going to give out that information?" The demon snarled. Yasu walked over to Naota's side.

"I successfully retrieved this scroll from one of your compatriots, I would have no remorse doing the same to you, I wonder how the contents of your stomach will look like when they're spilling on the grass." Yasu said with a cold smile. The demon cackled.

"Even if you have the scroll, you will never get to the contents inside." The demon said, cutting the ropes off his hands. He reached in his pocket and swallowed something.

"Hey wait!" Naota said but it was too late. He started to foam at the mouth and his body started to disintegrate.

"Long…live…Akuma…" The demon said before his body boiled down to a black puddle. Naota stared at him before shouting in frustration.

"All that time doing surveying missions and collecting info in the demon world, only for them to come to human world and kill themselves! What the hell! All that time wasted and all we got is a frigging scroll which will probably blow up as soon as we open it! And we didn't even get the leader's name, just the same damn thing!" Naota said, kicking the ground. She sat down and pouted.

"Will someone explain to me what the hell is going on!" Yusuke finally said. Naota was able to explain when she saw Shuichi staring at her. She got very red and stood up to stand behind Hikaru.

"Um Yasu, go to spirit world and deliver that to Koenma, would you? We will see each other in a bit." Naota said softly. Yasu nodded and vanished in a whirlwind.

"So what is going on?" Hikaru said and Naota slightly calmed down as Shuichi and Yusuke went to where she was standing.

"Covert mission, top secret if I were to tell you your life would be in danger so-"

"Just shut up and tell us!" Hikaru said pinching her cheek again. Naota rubbed it and took a quick glance at Shuichi before looking at Yusuke. She went up to Yusuke and took his hands into his own.

"You must be Yusuke Urameshi, Koenma told me many things about you and your missions, it is an honor to meet you!" Naota said while Hikaru made a remark about her ignoring her.

"Um thank you and you are?" Yusuke said, taking his hands away from her.

"My name is Naota Yukino and I'm your replacement, I'm the new spirit detective."

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**What is this covert mission she is talking about? What is the deal with the scroll? Why is she the new spirit detective and will Shuichi have some quality lovey dovey time with Naota? Find all this and more on the next chapter of Someone I can love!  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Those who have read the first chapter, re read it, I updated the intro after some thoughtful consideration (and a good review :3 )  
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**Ok now yay! I have to thank my two regulars Death Fox and YYH-FMA-YGO (am i still getting that wrong?) for reviewing, hopefully with the newly added material things will start picking up in the review department, not that I'm crazy about them but they are good for my soul!  
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**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this new chapter! First five reviews with ideas for the Generals names (besides Tanya and the leader) will be put in the story after I chose the best ones!  
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Yasu entered Koenma's office as he was busy stamping away at form while George the ogre ran around collecting them as he threw them. Yasu looked at Koenma with an amused look as he hasn't noticed his presence yet. He goes over to his desk and place the scroll on top of it. Koenma looks from his papers and stopped stamping.

"Is this it?" Koenma asked.

"Supposedly, we still shouldn't put too much hope on it considering their group tactician. This could be just a fake and the real scroll could be in their possession." Yasu said. Koenma took the scroll in his hand.

"It's very well guarded; there are various seals in the paper. This will be difficult to break. I'll put my best to work on it. Good job Yasu. Where's Naota I would have expected her to be with you when you finally had this in your hands." Koenma said looking around his office.

"She had a run in with your ex detective Urameshi, surely she's warning him of the danger that is now approaching, considering that he has a type of sacred energy." Yasu explained.

"Yes with so much work I haven't been able to tell Yusuke of the danger approaching. Make sure to remind her that Kuwabara and Kurama are also targeted. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to take this to get unsealed." Koenma hopped off his seat and Yasu went towards the exit.

00000

Shuichi, Hikaru and Yusuke are all sitting on a couch in front of Naota who is sitting on the floor sipping on tea. The rest of their drinks are on the table between them. The apartment was small with only one room, a simple kitchen, a bathroom and a small living room. Yusuke impatiently taps on his foot before bursting out of annoyance.

"Ok we came back because you were hungry, you ate, you're sipping tea now will you tell us what's going on here!" Yusuke snapped. Naota stared at him blankly before producing a small back with rice crackers in them.

"Cracker?" Naota offered. Yusuke stood up in a huff more out of anger than wanting to leave. Naota laughed a bit while Hikaru and Shuichi also became slightly more impatient. She set her tea down and stared at them with a serious look. "Alright now down to business, Yusuke, what do you know about the history of Spirit World?"

"I don't know anything only that Koenma is the son of King Enma and that they wanted to kill me after I became a demon, besides that and also knowing Botan, I don't know anything." Yusuke answered truthfully, sitting down again.

"I see well then, in order to tell you what I'm working on I'll have to go into some detail of the history of Spirit world and Demon world. Shuichi, have you heard of the 3 World's War?" Naota asked him, avoiding eye contact.

"Yes I have heard of it in my younger years but I've never participated in it." Shuichi replied.

"So where are you going with this?" Yusuke asked, his patience wearing thin.

"Long ago in demon world, before your father, Yomi and Mukuro became the three kings that ruled for hundreds of years there was a demon before them that was considered King. His name was Akuma. He set into motion a war that took almost a thousand years to complete. He first began taking recruits of A class demons and B class demons. He was building an army and also making a portal to Spirit world." Naota said.

"What?" Yusuke said.

"You heard me, a demon got into the Spirit world. That was him, most don't talk about it because it would make Spirit world look bad so most who even remember don't mention it. He entered Spirit world with an army of demons and also an army of humans. He went into the human world before the kekkai barrier was up and recruited a human priestess. She led the human revolutionaries. His goal was to combine Demon world and Human world to make a utopia for humans and demons to live together, but that was just a ruse."

"Fuh obviously, no demon wants to live together with us, they probably would eat everyone." Yusuke said.

"Exactly, Akuma's true goal was to enslave humanity and make us into pure cattle used for demon consumption but with his charismatic personality and a miko alongside him the humans believed him when he said he wanted a utopia. Eventually after 60 years of constant fighting and many casualties on both sides King Enma finally proposed a solution. Akuma couldn't be defeated but instead they decided to seal him. A powerful psychic of Spirit, Demon and Sacred energy banded together and sealed him and sent him back into the bowels of Demon world where he is still sleeping to this day." Naota finished.

"So what's this got to do with you being Spirit detective?" Yusuke asked.

"I was getting to that. Just a little after the first Demon world Tournament Koenma received a letter of old demon speak. In it was a threat saying that the Akuma's Blood Revolutionaries found where he was sealed and that they were going to release him in 3 years time. Knowing that King Enma was still after your head, Yusuke, Koenma enlisted me as his new spirit detective. I've been detective for 2 years now, trying to find out more about this revolutionary army." Naota said.

"Have you found anything?" Shuichi asked. Naota nodded.

"The army is about 30 thousand strong and growing still. I found out that there are four generals, each with their own division. There is the War Leader, the Tactician, the Negotiator, and the Surveyor each with his or her own troops and missions. The War Leader is by far the largest, training all new recruits. Most of his troops range from the lowest E class to B class, there are no A class in his division. The Tactician doesn't seem to have troops of his own, nor does the negotiator at least in my findings. The Surveyor does have troops and is also the one trying to pull the strings will finding the most suitable subjects to open the seal to Akuma. Then there is the ring leader but I've never seen him or what his role in the army besides giving orders. All of the generals are S-Class demons about your power level Yusuke." Naota said. Yusuke and the others kept quiet, letting the information sink in.

"Do you know what they even look like?" Hikaru asked.

"No I've never seen any of them, but I do know the name of the Surveyor, she is called Tanya and I've found out that she's a dragon demon but that's all I know of the generals." Naota said.

"Are you through with explaining?" Everyone looked towards the door as Yasu came in.

"Oh hey Yasu, how'd it go with Koenma?" Naota asked.

"Good, he is already working on the seals surrounding the scroll, but I told him that we should take into account that it could be a fake." Yasu said and Naota nodded. "Another thing, he told me to warn the Urameshi team, you should know why." Yasu said before going into one of the rooms.

"Oh." Naota said.

"What's that's supposed to mean?" Yusuke said. Naota thought about it for a bit and let herself go into a more relaxed sitting position.

"Yusuke, as you know, you are the only one alive to possess a type of Sacred energy, not the usual kind but different and because of that the Revolutionaries might try to convince you to come over to your side. Considering that Akuma was sealed by 3 different and powerful psychics, they might also need 3 powerful psychics to open it. You are the obvious candidate for the Sacred energy part." Naota said.

"So what? Just because I have Sacred energy and I'm part demon doesn't mean I'm gonna switch sides, besides I need to train for the next tournament." Yusuke said crossing him arms.

"You said that the message for Koenma came slightly after the first tournament yes?" Shuichi asked and Naota nodded.

"Yea it said in three years, so considering that two have already come and gone they're gonna, supposedly, open the seal in a year's time." Naota said.

"That means that it also aligns with the next tournament. That by means is of no coincidence. The tournament is probably in their plans." Shuichi said and Naota had a dark look on her face.

"If they use the tournament to their advantage, who knows what could happen, heck, all the participants could be a part of the tournament. They might use it to recruit the stronger A and S-class demons to their side, and then we will be in deep crap." Naota said. Everyone kept silent.

"But what of myself, Kuwabara and Hiei?" Shuichi asked.

"Kuwabara is stronger than me in terms of Spirit energy, and they need a psychic of Spirit energy to open the seal. If they chose Yusuke for Sacred energy then they will go to Kuwabara for Spirit energy." Naota explained.

"And Demon energy?" Hikaru asked.

"Me and Yasu have assumed that they probably already found a psychic for that part and the reason he wants me to warm you and Hiei is that you two are really powerful and influential. If you or Hiei were to join, then other demons will join more easily. Both of you have to be really careful from now on, we don't know the face of these demons and their powers, we're totally in the black even though we've been working on this for almost 2 years." Naota said frustratingly.

"Look I'll pass on the message to Kuwabara, he's also participating in the tournament so might as well let him know that he's gotten popular with crazy demons." Yusuke said, getting up and going towards the door.

"I'll go too; I need to sleep on this. It's so much information." Hikaru said getting up.

"Yusuke, please be careful, we don't know what they're capable of." Naota said.

"Yea yea." Yusuke said going out. The door closed and Naota and Shuichi were the only ones left. Naota sighed and put her head down on the table, feeling exhausted for some reason.

"Did everyone leave?" Yasu said, his hair damp with a towel around his midriff. Naota looked at him for a second before her face became super red. She looked away.

"Yasu! What did I tell you! This isn't America, put some clothes on!" Naota said. Shuichi didn't know whether or not to laugh or feel jealous.

"Alright, alright." Yasu said, and a door closed. Naota sighed more deeply and bonked her head. Shuichi chuckled.

"You have changed Naota." Shuichi said.

"Maybe, I'm not really sure." Naota said, her head still on the table.

"I'm very happy you're back." Shuichi said softly. She raised her head and finally made eye contact with him. She smiled goofily and blushed. Outside of her apartment Hikaru and Yusuke went their separate ways as Tanya and another stood next to her, looking at the building. A figure stood in a crouching stance, his robe longer than his arms that it swept the floor. His jacket was black leather with various buckles and belts. His face had leather belts crossing in an X and a mask covering the lower part of his face. His eyes were dark blue and his spiky long hair coming down straight.

"So how goes it Negotiator, are there any weak points we can exploit?" Tanya said.

"I have been going through scenarios with the Tactician and it seems the easiest to bring to our side might be the fox demon out of all of them. Yusuke Urameshi still holds a great bond with his partner but considering his power we cannot fight him should things go awry. The human psychic will not go to our side, he will promptly choose death if we were to capture him or instead escape. The fox has the most weak points with his family and friends but we must be very cautious. We don't want to make the same mistake as Roto in the Dark tournament." The Negotiator said and Tanya nodded in agreement.

"What of the fire apparition Hiei?" She asked.

"As of right now he is under the protection of Mukuro, we cannot get close to him. We will need to recruit him once our plan starts with the next tournament." He said and she looked towards the building again thinking about their plans of unsealing Akuma and then thinking back to earlier that day when someone broke through the barrier.

_"So is the team holding the scroll here yet?" Tanya said to a subordinate._

_"No, they have not arrived."_

_"What is taking them so long?" Tanya wondered out loud. Her ears twitched when she felt a group enter her barrier. The group of 10 demons came into the clearing with her. One that looked like an ogre came up to her and reached in his back pouch to retrieve a heavily bound scroll with various seal marks on it._

_"This gives us three locations located deep within the demon world that are suspiciously unpopulated. Through our group we have listed these three as the most probably to house Akuma." He said and Tanya took it and nodded._

_"Well now isn't that helpful of you." Yasu said, coming out of the bushes. They all looked at him with shock, mostly Tanya who didn't even feel his presence coming through her barrier._

_"Scatter!" The two groups scattered and Yasu following one, Naota behind the other not seeing Tanya. Yasu followed her group to another clearing, he focused his energy into his hand and cut a deep gash into the earth, stopping the group in their tracks. Tanya looked at him and gritted her teeth. She took out a small dagger from behind her, ready to defend herself._

_"If you would so kindly give me the scroll, I will let you go without killing your men." Yasu said, holding out his hand. Tanya glared at him darkly. 'I'm sorry everyone.' She took out a couple of kunai out of her back pouch and flung them towards the group that came with her._

_"Wha-what are you doing!" One said when she started to cut him up into pieces. Everyone started to run away from her to no avail. In less than two minutes she had killed everyone in the field. Yasu looked at her with humorous eyes. She took out the scroll but it was stolen by her by another demon looking at the massacre._

_"You don't deserve this scroll, I'll destroy it before you hand it over traitor!" He said, quickly swallowing it. He laughed and pointed at Yasu. "As soon as this scroll hits my stomach, it will dissolve instantly!" Yasu appeared before him, causing the demon to take a step back._

_"Well then, I have to stop it before then now don't I?" Yasu said with a smile and stabbed above his stomach, his hand going through him with the scroll in his hand. He proceeded to dismember him in annoyance and after he was done he looked towards Tanya, she took a defensive stance and stared at him._

_"You shouldn't be so defensive Surveyor; I'm on your side." Tanya gasped and looked at Yasu, his smile demonic looking._

_"Who are you?" She asked._

_"Let's just say I'm a double agent. You should go before more reinforcements come." Yasu said._

_"And the scroll?" Tanya asked._

_"It's a dummy, there's nothing inside here, I'll make sure of it." Yasu said. They both stared at each other and Tanya dropped her stance and sheathed her dagger, before getting herself out of there. Yasu smiled widely and laughed. 'You shouldn't trust others so easily Tanya.' He thought, before looking towards Shuichi and the others coming through the bushes._

Tanya wondered who was he and why hasn't she seen him before. 'Is our leader keeping things from us or was he with us from the beginning?' She wondered before she and the Negotiator swiftly went back towards Demon world.

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**Who are these new revolutionaries bent on reviving an old terror onto the human world? Is Yasu really a traitor or a triple agent? Will i finally get around to make more lovey gooey stuff in this fanfic? Tune in next time on the next exciting chapter of Someone I can Love!  
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	3. Chapter 3

_So we are finally getting some headway into the whole General thing today! Woohoo! I was gonna uploaded this yesterday but I had to take care of my little sister for a bit (20 year difference people, amazing huh?) and I know you people are reading this and it would do me a world of beautiful good if you would just hit that little button down below called the 'REVIEW BUTTON!'  
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_I have some ideas about the generals names but they're so bland and overused, i need uniqueness! If someone can give me some ideas to bounce of off I would appreciate them immensely :3  
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_Ok enough rambling onto Chapter 3!  
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Shuichi lies in his bed, thinking about the new information that Naota gave to him a few nights ago. She let him go a little afterwards and he really was happy to see her but the way they met again wasn't exactly how he wanted it to be. 'Another war and Naota is a part of it. What can I do to make sure she won't hurt herself?' Shuichi thought. 'Not only that Yasu is playing a big part when it comes to Naota, and knowing his old tactics I'm sure that he's not done with her or that part of her that he's trying to resurrect.' Shuichi sighed and got up from his bed. He went out for a walk, hopefully the cold autumn air would clear his head a bit. He stopped by the park he and Naota used to go to when he felt energy behind him.

"Yasu, why are you here?" Shuichi said without looking back.

"Admiring the view of course. You have gotten very handsome Shuichi." Yasu said, leaning against a barren tree. Shuichi looked back with a dark glare and Yasu whistled. "Your gaze hasn't changed; well it has gotten a bit more threatening since your increase in power."

"I do not want to fight you here; you will taint this ground with your filthy blood." Shuichi said and Yasu chuckled.

"Your words bite at my heart so, but I'm not here for mere pleasantries. I am here to offer you a position." Yasu said and Shuichi stared at him quietly. "You of all people want to protect Naota, so why not join us? You joined Yusuke." Yasu stated.

"I cannot for I don't have the time. Unlike some of us, I do have a job I'd like to keep." Shuichi said and Yasu frowned.

"Hah, I liked you better when you were cuter. This job though was given to you by your step-father, surely you can reason with him, I doubt he wouldn't listen to his beloved step-son." Yasu said.

"Why do you want me to join you?" Shuichi asked.

"I need you to protect Naota when I'm not here. Not only that I also need you to train both of us for the upcoming tournament. Not that I could train her myself but you have clearance to places of great energy." Yasu explained.

"You mean Genkai's." Shuichi said and Yasu nodded. "But why would I want to train you also?"

"Strategy of course, you will need all the allies you can get if you are to face an army." Yasu smirked. Shuichi thought about it. 'This will give me the perfect chance to watch over Naota, and it will also give me a chance to make sure Yasu can't do anything to further harm her.'

"I'll give you some time to think about it Shuichi, let me know when you have come to a decision. Oh and before I go there's another mission heading our way, it seems that one of the generals have been located in the demon world. If you or others will want to come, I suggest you ask." Yasu said before walking away. Shuichi looked at his retreating figure, wondering what his last statement meant. He goes over to one of the benches and sits down, looking over the park.

"Hey, surprise to see you here." Shuichi looked over and it was Hikaru. He made room for her and she sat down. They stayed in silence, probably thinking about the same thing.

"You know, my life would have been completely normal if I didn't meet you or Naota. I wouldn't have to wonder if today is gonna be the last day of humanity with all the demons around." Hikaru started.

"I'm sorry." Shuichi said. Hikaru laughed.

"But you know, I loved the way you and Naota have made my life so much more interesting, it just sucks that I can't be of more help. I'm just here waiting for the two of you to come back and then I'd say 'welcome back' but it seems that no matter what I just wish that I could be as strong as both of you." Hikaru said. Both said nothing for a while, the wind picking up a bit.

"I know," Shuichi started, "That if you could, you would do everything you are capable of to help Naota and me." Hikaru smiled softly.

"Its nostalgic being here isn't it?" Hikaru said and Shuichi nodded. She got up from her seat and bid farewell to Shuichi.

00000

"You sure this is the place Botan?" Naota said, looking at a rough map of where to go next. A girl with blue hair up in a ponytail with pink eyes and pink kimono nodded.

"Yep, this is only a rough draft from our surveillance team but this should be the right place. You will be landing here where there is a grove of trees, if you continue north you will eventually find a large clearing and a castle will open up, we have reason to believe that this is the Tacticians place of operations, if we can sneak in here and maybe get some information we would have some slight upper hand instead of being left in the dark most of the time." Naota nodded as Botan explained.

"When do you want us to get moving?" Naota asked.

"In a week's time, the Tactician would be leaving his fortress and you'll only be dealing with small timers, nothing you can't handle." Botan said reassuringly.

"Alright, I'll relay the info to Yasu so we can set up a plan, thanks Botan. How's the scroll? Have you managed to unseal it yet?" Naota asked. Botan sighed dejectedly.

"No we haven't even manage the first set of seals, whoever sealed this did not want this to be read. I have a feeling we might have gotten the real scroll of the location, if it was a fake it wouldn't be so hard to crack." Botan said.

"Well at least we found one fortress so far, that's one thing we have against them." Naota said.

"Time for me to go then, remember, one week from now I'll come get you and lead you to the doorway into the demon world, be ready." Botan said as she hopped on her oar and flew out the window. Naota waved her good bye and went out. Night came and the negotiator was on top of one of the buildings near Naota's apartment. He looked down until he heard footsteps behind him.

"What is your answer?" He asked without looking back.

"I will help you. I will act as the spirit detective's faithful partner but when you ask I will betray her in ways you can't imagine." The negotiator nodded.

"The Tactician has something planned for her, he leaked out his fortress on purpose to try to bring the demon fox over to our side but we need leverage. Kidnap his close friend and we'll use her in order to try to lead him into our ranks." The negotiator said and Yasu nodded, walking away.

Yasu comes in front of a plain house and looks into the windows. He found one that was unlocked and let himself in. He looks through the rooms and found the master bedroom, there were some boxes left unpacked and he entered the room silently. He saw Hikaru sleeping next to a man whom he assumed was her fiancée. He made sure that both stayed asleep with his hypnosis and took her out of her bed.

00000

Naota was sleeping peacefully when she heard someone banging on the door. She woke up immediately and put on her pants. She quickly looked through the peeking glass on the door and recognized Hikaru's fiancée. She opened the door, he looked ragged, his curly hair going all over the place, his eyes with bag under his eyes, he hasn't shaved for a few days either.

"Is, is Hikaru here by any chance?" He said with panic laced in his voice.

"No, I haven't seen her at all in like a week." Naota said and he formed tears in his eyes and slumped to the ground and started to sob. Naota tensed up and didn't know what to do.

"She's been missing for almost 5 days! I can't find her anywhere! She's not with her parents, not her friends, she hasn't been to work, no one has seen or heard from her. I thought since you were her friend that recently came back she would be with you, but now…what should I do she's not anywhere!" He continued to sob lightly. Naota became worried at the turn of events. She knelt down and put her hands on his shoulders, he looked at her, his face covered in tears and snot.

"Don't worry, I'll look for her too, right now try to stay home, she might come back ok?" Naota said reassuringly. He nodded half heartedly and walked away from her apartment. She closed the door and her brow furrowed in worry.

"Who was that?" A voiced said in her apartment.

"Hikaru's fiancée asking if we had seen-" Naota started but noticed she didn't even recognize the voice. She looked up and saw someone on top of the table, crouching, his sleeves hit the floor. She stared at him dumbfounded, 'How did even get in here!'

"Detective, I have a proposition for you. If you do not go to the fortress with Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke then I have no choice to execute your friend. If you want to try to save her life then come in 2 days time, if not, you already know the consequences." He said and quietly disappeared through an open window. She slumped to the floor, her back on the door.

'They took her.'

Shuichi was reading a book when he heard a knock at his door. He looked toward the time and it was 7 in the morning on his day off, not many people would see him at this time. He reached for the door and was surprised to see a panting Naota at his door. Her hair was still messy, her clothes had wrinkles on them and she didn't even wear a sweater in this cold weather.

"Shuichi, they took her! They, took her…" Naota said, putting her hands on her knees, her gasps of breath looking like white fog.

"Naota calm down, what are you talking about?" Shuichi asked.

"The revolutioinaries took Hikaru! She's been missing for five days and earlier someone entered my house and told me if you, Yusuke, and Kuwabara don't come with me on my next mission they'll kill her!" She said, panicking. He lead her inside, not wanting anyone to hear her. She shivered slightly from the panic and not from the cold. Shuichi led her to the couch and she sat down, her hands white from being clenched. He sat next to her, silent and going over the turn of events in his head.

"Your mission, when does it start?" Shuichi asked, going into his position of thinking.

"In two days." Naota said.

"We will need to join you, but this could also be a trap, whether or not they have Hikaru in their possession." Shuichi said.

"Her fiancée came even earlier today, he told me no one has seen or heard from her, she hasn't gone to work either for about 5 days." Naota said. Shuichi frowned. 'The possibility that they could have captured her is high, but we do not know for sure.' He looked to Naota and she glared at the floor, her fists still clenched. He put his hand on hers and she flinched from the sudden touch. She looked at him and his face was serious.

"Let's get Kuwabara and Yusuke."

00000

Yusuke and Kuwabara were sitting on the couch of Shuichi's apartment staring at the begging Naota, her head on the floor. Shuichi leaned against the wall, his face not showing any delight in any of this.

"I know you're retired Yusuke and I heard that you want to focus on your studies Kuwabara and both of you don't even know me that well but please I'm begging you, please help me! Hikaru is my good friend, if they have her I can't let her die!" Naota said, pleading. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other for a second before saying anything.

"Come one Urameshi be a man!" Kuwabara stated.

"Alright, alright, we'll help you." Yusuke said. Naota looked up.

"You will?" Naota asked.

"Yes we'll help you." Yusuke said before being glomped by Naota.

"Oh thank you thank you so, so much! I'll never forget this, I owe you one big time!" Naota said. Yusuke made her get off.

"Yea, yea get off me." Yusuke said before Naota flinged herself at Kuwabara before getting to business.

"Botan told me that in this fortress the Tactician will leave, intel tells us that valuable information could be inside but with Hikaru being kidnapped Shuichi said it's probably a trap and that the Tactician will probably still be in there. We have to be extremely cautious while going there." Naota said, sitting on the floor talking to Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"So how are we getting there?" Yusuke asked.

"Botan will open a portal for me in an abandoned warehouse leading to the location, there we will drop into a forest just outside the fortress. She'll be coming to pick me up in 2 days time. " Naota explained.

"Other than that we have no more information. This almost like the lesson at Genkai, only this time if we fail someone will perish." Shuichi said. "We must be on our absolute guard, we will meet at Naota's apartment in 2 days time. Yusuke and Kuwabara be ready."

Deep in the Demon World~

Hikaru hangs from the ceiling over a rapid gush of water, three ropes attached to her container. She had her hands and feet tied. Her surroundings looked like an old stone prison with mold and small vines crawling up the walls. It was humid and wet. She was currently asleep while a person stared at her from below.

"You have done a good work Yasu, now we have leverage. My plan will be pitch perfect by the time they are here." He wore Chinese robes and hat, it was a light beige and peach color. His raven dark hair went past his back and his eyes closed shut. He waved a fan made of feathers and looked behind him with closed eyes, a playful smile on his lips. Yasu looked back at him with a frown.

"Are you sure this will work?" Yasu asked.

"It will work, you shouldn't worry about it. The new detective will die and then we will have in our possession the great fox demon Kurama, the holder of the new Sacred energy Yusuke Urameshi and our holder of Spirit Energy Kuwabara, it's fool proof. Nothing can ruin this plan." He boasted twirling around for added effect.

"Then why make a game out of it?" Yasu asked, looking disgusted.

"Because they need hope, humans must hope, if they don't humanity wouldn't be here in the first place." The tactician replied. He walked back towards Yasu. "Keep an eye on her and don't let her wake up, I shall start preparing." The tactician said. Yasu looked towards Hikaru before going back. Hikaru opened her eyes, her mouth gagged with a cloth.

'Hurry.'

* * *

_What is the Tactician planning for Naota and the rest of the Group? Has Yasu really betrayed them entirely? Is someone gonna die and i'm not telling you? Find all this and more in the next excited chapter of Someone I can Love!  
_

_(bytheway has anyone noticed my chapters being longer?)  
_


	4. Chapter 4

_Yay! Another chapter but I got to say i'm sorry that this one isn't as long as the other ones, but trust me when i saw it's gonna get more interesting. I finally found some good names for the generals after some inspiration from a reviewer :3_

_I'm trying to rank up my grammar a little bit so updates may come a bit slower, not only that there are some other projects that i'm writing that, hopefully, i'll be able to work on soon so look after me please!  
_

* * *

Naota looked around in her surroundings, feeling the familiar energy of demon world. Red clouds like blood cover the sky, lightening strikes out of nowhere, the stench of blood and rotting corpses permeate the air. She leaned against a tree, waiting for the other 3 to come down from the portal. Botan was surprised to see Yusuke and Kuwabara helping her but they kept her in the dark, if not, it would make matters worse in spirit world. Yusuke and Shuichi landed without a hitch, Kuwabara stumbled slightly but righted himself quickly, trying to play it cool.

"So where is this fortress you guys were talking about, I don't see it anywhere." Kuwabara said.

"We are outside in the forest, let's keep moving we'll see it soon." Naota said. All of them started to follow Naota and eventually were lead to a small cliff and was faced with the fortress itself. It was large like an old England castle with a moat and drawbridge. The walls were covered with vines and moss and when the lightening stroke, it seemed very menacing. Spikes adorned the walls and some corpses were still hanging on to them. Naota knelt down, looking over the cliff and spotted a carriage leaving the premises.

"There's the decoy, after they're out of eye sight, it's time to go in." Naota said.

"Remember, we do not know the enemy's strength other than he's an S-class demon. Naota has also stated that he does not seem to have demons that follow him, whether or not he'll be alone in the fortress is something we don't know." Shuichi explained again.

"Man, this reminds me of that whole test thing Genkai gave us a while back." Yusuke muttered.

"You said it, so are we just going through the front door or something?" Kuwabara said.

"You wanna try swimming through poisonous waters or jumping over the wall where you'll most likely get stabbed by 10 foot spikes?" Naota said.

"Yea good point." Kuwabara said. The carriage was out of sight, they all started to sprint towards the door. It opened on its own and they all walked into the foyer. It was empty and there was no sounds coming from anywhere.

"Well I guess we should start opening doors-" Suddenly the floor opened up and Naota was swallowed by a trap door.

"Naota!" Shuichi cried before Yusuke and Kuwabara was also taken. Shuichi was the only one left. He knelt down and touched the ground, trying to find the opening.

"You shouldn't do that fox, after all it would ruin the game." Shuichi looked up and was face to face with the Tactician. His robes were almost like a priest's, the colors of white and blood red. In his right hand a fan made of feathers.

"You must be the Tactician." Shuichi said, standing up.

"You are correct, let me formally introduce myself. My name is Yuu, strategist of the Revolutionaries." He said. "I bid you welcome to my humble abode. You will find it very accommodating." Shuichi took out his rose whip and Yuu put his fan to his face covering his mouth. His eyes opened in slits, clear and cool green met with dark emerald green. "You shouldn't do that, who knows what could happen to your dear friend." Shuichi lowered his weapon.

"Where are my companions?" Shuichi asked.

"They are not harmed, they are still here but scattered. Come with me, this is not the place to have a conversation." Shuichi started to follow him through a series of rooms and hallways. Yuu started to walk down stairs until they reached the bottom. It was a humongous room, capable to storing a commercial airplane from the human world, in the middle was two chairs facing each other and a chessboard in the center on a small table. Shuichi looked up and was surprised to see Hikaru, hanging from the ceiling over a river of lava. Shuichi started to run towards her until one of the ropes holding her snapped. Yuu tsked at him.

"Now now, it wouldn't be fun if you could easily save her now would it? What do you suppose we play a game Kurama?" Yuu said, seating himself in one of the chairs and motioning to Shuichi to sit in the other one.

'I have no choice but to follow his instructions. Any closer I get to Hikaru and those ropes will snap, causing her to burn to death. Not only that I cannot be sure that he's telling the truth of the others. I have to be very cautious.' Shuichi thought as he sat down. Figures started to appear in the chess board. On Yuu's side he has a full set of pawns, bishops, rooks and knights. On Shuichi's side there was less than half.

"Let's play a game to pass the time Shuichi. In my fortress there are many hidden dangers and many of my followers willing to fight every single one of you. They would overpower you and your companions if I were to unleash them all but I want to give you a fighting chance. All of my subjects are my chess pieces, pawns are the weakest with the king, that's me, being the strongest. Then there are your subjects, you are the king, protecting the single pawn that is Hikaru. There is your knight, the one with pure spirit energy, your rook, the ex detective and your queen, the new detective." Yuu said and the pieces appeared on Shuichi's side, they looked like them with Shuichi with a crown, Naota with a smaller crown, Kuwabara appearing as a knight and Yusuke looking like a wall. They are all moving out of their own accord from space to space but they are all scattered, not one of them close to each other besides Shuichi and Hikaru, being right next to each other.

"This isn't your ordinary game of chess." Shuichi said. Yuu chuckled.

"What would be the fun in that Kurama? Your pieces move of their own accord in my fortress which symbolizes the chess board, the more of my pawns that I move to their spot, the more they will fight them. They will fight over the space of the chessboard, leading them to us. Of course if one of them should perish their chess piece also vanishes." Yuu explained. Shuichi looked down at the board; Hikaru is placed on his side, on the last row with Shuichi in front of her and Yuu in front of him.

'I have no choice but to play by his game.' Shuichi thought.

"There is a way to save all of you without having your companions harmed or killed. We could let all of you go with your lives intact." Yuu said. Shuichi didn't believe him. "Your gaze betrays you Kurama, don't you believe me?"

"There must be a reason why you would present me with that choice." Shuichi said and Yuu chuckled again.

"Of course, if you agree to join our side then we will let your friends go." Yuu said and Shuichi scowled. "You don't have to agree right at this moment, let us play and we shall see how grand your desire is to save your friends."

00000

Naota groaned and rubbed her butt, feeling it sore after her long fall. She looked around her surroundings, it was dark with small torches here and there and sludge seems to be moving slowly next to her. 'I must be in the sewers.' She got up and started to walk. She took the torch from the wall and looked around for an opening. She found a set of stairs and started to go up. She opened a door above her and climbed out. She's out of the sewers but finds herself wandering hallways after hallways with no demons in sight.

'How big is this place? It didn't look that big from the outside and there's no one here either.' Naota thought.

First pawn is set.

Naota heard a rumbling coming toward her. She squinted her eyes, trying to see and then saw a gigantic boulder coming her way. She started to scramble away from it.

"You have got to be joking me!" Naota shouted, the boulder closing in on her, she looked frantically for an opening and saw ahead a wall littered with spikes. 'If I run into that I'm done for, if I stop I'm gonna be squished!' She tripped on a loose stone and heard something fall. 'I'm gonna die by a large rock, what a life!' She covered her head and waited for the impact, but didn't feel anything. She opened her eyes and looked behind her. A portion of ceiling caved in and stopped the boulder. She let out a breath and laid on her back for a bit, allowing her heart to calm down.

"What kind of place is this?"

Kuwabara kept opening door after door after door and couldn't really find any changes in the rooms he found. Most were luxurious with big beds, chandeliers, tables, dressers, and the like. He himself landed on a bed so his fall wasn't that bad.

"Where is everyone? There are so many rooms but no one to fill them, kinda creepy if you ask me." Kuwabara thought out loud. The hallway he walked through was adorned with various painting, vases and rugs. He felt out of place with all the expensive items.

'Hey wait a minute, why am I walking around? I can just sense where everyone is duh!' Kuwabara focused and started to read the energies. 'Alright, well there's Urameshi's energy, Naota is pretty far, Kurama is kinda close to her and that one girl, Hikaru, but that's it? There's no one else, that's strange.'

Bishop set.

Kuwabara heard a few footsteps behind him before having to dodge a punch. Kuwabara looked at the arm before it snapped back to its body. 'Ok that's weird, I couldn't even sense that guy coming behind me.' The footsteps grew louder and a troll looking creature came into view, its body almost as wide as the hallway, and it had to hunch over to avoid the ceiling. Drool came from its mouth and when it touched the floor, it would burn right through it. It had a low menacing growl as it came closer to Kuwabara, and then it started to sprint towards him. Kuwabara took out his spirit sword, a large grin plastered on his face.

"Alright big guy, come at me!"

"Ok so after falling for god knows how long through a tunnel that seemed to only go down, how the hell did I get up here!" Yusuke shouted, somehow finding himself right on the rooftop. 'Not only that there are no stairs to go down, and all the doors just keep leading me to towers. If I try to jump my way down I'd probably get skewered by those damn spikes.' Yusuke thought, wondering how to get out of this predicament.

"Well I'm not like Kurama, I don't think, so best way to get down, blast your way down." Yusuke said. He pointed his finger downwards from where he was standing.

"Spirit gun!" A shot of demon energy cracked through the ground and he fell with the rubble. It shook most of the fortress all the way down to where Yuu and Shuichi were. One of Yuu's pawns was gone; his bishop in front of Kuwabara and Yusuke's position is almost right next to Kuwabara's.

"That ex spirit detective is remarkable, his spirit gun coincidentally saved your queen and put him in a closer position to your knight. Some should wonder if he's doing it on purpose or if he's really an idiot." Yuu said and Shuichi chuckled.

"Yusuke is like that, I thought the same thing too when I first met him." Shuichi said.

"But of course the game shouldn't be so easily won, let's make this more interesting. As you know pawns are the weakest in chess, so my subjects that are pawns can be easily defeated, but as you go higher their levels in power grow stronger. Right now your knight is going against a bishop, an A-class demon, one of his level. If he plays his cards right, then he should live. Your queen however is of B-class, I wonder, if she would fare just as well." Yuu said and Shuichi put on a dark look. "Your eyes can be very terrifying Kurama. Knight set, attack his queen."

* * *

_What will happen to Naota when faced with an enemy stronger than she is? Will Kuwabara be eaten? What is the deal with Yusuke blowing things up? Find out all this and more on the next exciting chapter of Someone I can Love!  
_

_(keep an eye out for another YYH story from me :3 )  
_


	5. Chapter 5

_And then there was one, Shadow Realm Triforce, you're the only one left, it seems. Kinda makes me sad a bit, the fact that i really want to write and everyone just keeps leaving, but I still have you left, unless you leave me too, and then i'll be all alone...  
_

* * *

Knight Set.

Naota laid on the ground for a while, trying to think of a plan before getting up. She started to climb up the debris and pushed away the ceiling that was loose. It fell to the ground and she pulled herself up, finding herself in an elaborate hallway filled with expensive items. 'I finally made it in the main house, there are so many doors, I wonder if any will lead me anywhere.' She started to open doors but she found that most of them were bedrooms. She continued walking until a projectile stopped right in front of her foot. She unleashed a spirit barrier around her and started to sense her surroundings.

'Weird, I can't sense anyone.' She thought. She heard someone sprinting behind her and felt the ground shake and crumble. She fell right back down towards where the boulder was. She landed unscathed and found herself face to face with her opponent. He had short blond hair that hugged his face, his red visors covered his eyes. He had a yellow trench coat on with a white turtle neck underneath it, blood red pants and boots to match. He smirked at her and flicked his wrist, causing needles to appear from beneath it and into his hands.

"Well now aren't you well dressed to fight?" Naota said.

"You shouldn't be talking down to your betters human." He said and rushed towards her, long needles in both hands. He tried stabbing her but she kept dodging, but the more she dodged the more his strikes kept getting closer to her. Finally he made a cut in her shirt and she jumped away from him. He threw needles at her and she dodged but it was a distraction. He came up from her side and stabbed. He only stabbed her shirt, she landed away from him with only her bottom shirt on but not before grabbing her side.

'He's fast, really fast. The more I dodge the better he reads my moves, so far he hasn't used any of his demon energy and even then I can't land a hit on him. Damn it, he's stronger than me.' Naota thought. She looked in her surroundings and figured out a plan.

"Is that really all you can do, use your little pathetic needles, kinda lame for a strong demon if you ask me." Naota goaded him. He smirked at her and started to charge straight for her. 'Perfect.' She grabbed her wrist and started to focus energy into her entire palm. He jumped for the strike. She raised her palm.

"Spirit Palm!" Energy shot from her entire hand encompassing the whole hallway they were in, there wasn't any room to dodge and he took the entire blow. Her hand smoked after the attack and she panted, 'I really shouldn't use that one too much, just three shots left.' She couldn't see her attacker because there was so much dust in the air from her blast, but she saw a silhouette. She gritted her teeth when she saw that her blast only seemed to tear his clothing. He started to laugh and sat down on the ground.

"Man that was some blast, it would've hurt me too if you were just a little bit stronger, but that was pretty neat energy." He took off his visors. His eyes were blood red and his pupils were in slits. "Since you manage to at least damage my clothing I'll introduce myself, the name's Vain, and I'll be the one to kill you." He started to take off his coat and boots. "Haven't you wondered where the needles are coming from? Now that my clothes are ruined, I don't have to be stealthy about it anymore." Needles started to sprout from inside his body and his smirk grew. Naota put up her barrier again but he already got in front of her and punched her stomach, she barely avoided it only to start to dodge for her life, little by little his cuts appeared all over her body the second he took a swing.

'I can't keep avoiding forever, I have to land a hit, if I don't I'm dead!' Naota thought, but she reacted too slowly and he sliced her face, she finally stepped back only to be confronted by the wall of spikes from earlier. She had four cut marks on the right side of her face, one on top of her eye and the other three below it. She closed her eye from the blood pouring from her wound. He walked slowly to her, a big grin on his face.

"So any last words?" Vain asked. Naota panted, she couldn't keep this up for long. 'Using that might work in this situation but it takes so long! I have to try it.' She began to expand her barrier and Vain jumped back, not letting it touch him. Then little by little her barrier kept shrinking and shrinking until it became marble sized in her hands. She panted heavily. 'Just one shot at this.' She took her condensed spirit energy and threw it at Vain, he avoided it easily and laughed. "Is that your master plan?" It landed near the boulder and the debris that was blocking it.

"No, that's my plan." Naota said and the marble exploded in waves of spirit energy, getting rid of the debris of the boulder and letting it roll again. She ran towards Vain and slid underneath the boulder, disappearing. Vain had nowhere to go, it was a closed hallway and the wall behind him was spiked. He smirked as the boulder came closer.

"Not bad, not bad at all."

Naota landed hard on her back, she coughed out the air in her lungs from the fall and panted very heavily. She looked up, some light coming from a hole that she came in from. 'That was a big leap of faith. Making my spirit bomb blow up some of the debris but the hole wasn't big enough for the boulder to fall through, I was able to slip into it just barely, but with this Vain will be dead; there wasn't any way to escape from it.' Naota thought, letting herself calm down. She sat up and wiped the blood from her face, her body is littered with small cuts. She stands up, wobbles, still amazed she survived. 'Still I was lucky, chances are if I'm gonna go up against another demon like Vain, I won't survive, I don't have much spirit energy left.'

She looked around; the area seemed a bit drier and a little hotter. There weren't any torches on the wall, the only source of light coming from the hole above. She looked up, the hole was too far, and she started to walk into the darkness. 'Guys, be careful.'

00000

Kuwabara let out a battle shout, cutting the troll's arm once more. It fell and disintegrated but it grew right back out, stretching and trying to grab him again. 'Every time I cut his arm off he grows a new one, at least he's slow.' Kuwabara thought, trying to figure out a plan against this troll. The troll stopped and looked around for a second. Kuwabara took a defensive stance, and then the troll crashed his arm into the wall, grunted with effort and started to tear down the walls. 'Oh crap!' Kuwabara thought when he saw his clawed arm going towards him.

"Kuwabara duck!" Yusuke shouted, pointing his spirit gun in front of him, Kuwabara hit the ground and Yusuke shot. It hit the troll square in the chest, Yusuke's spirit gun also destroyed the hallway behind him, leaving a great big chasm that led outside. Unfortunately because of the blast the ground weakened. Yusuke and Kuwabara hurdled downward, with the troll closely behind, half of its body disintegrated from the blast. Using the falling debris as a foot hold, Kuwabara and Yusuke safely made it to the ground, the troll fell a little bit away, its body being covered by the large debris.

"Come on Urameshi, I don't want to be here when that thing gets up." Kuwabara said, going into the dark and dry sewers.

"Oh come on, it took a blast from my spirit gun, it's not gonna get up." Yusuke said, dusting off his clothes.

"Yea? Well I kept cutting off his arms and they just kept growing back! Trust me that thing is gonna get up." Kuwabara said.

"Fine, but where are we?" Yusuke said, looking around his surroundings. He lightly fanned himself with his shirt. "It's pretty hot down here." He kept looking around but the only light was coming from above from their fall. "Hey Kuwabara you can see in the dark right?" Yusuke asked.

"Yea, I can also sense Naota and Kurama, they're pretty close but…" Kuwabara started, Yusuke followed closely behind him.

"But what?"

"Here we are in this huge building, and there's no one in it. I keep sensing our energies but no one else's, not even that troll. Something like that should have some energy at least but, nothing. It's like it doesn't even exist." Kuwabara said.

"Weird." Yusuke said and heard something behind them, the troll got back up, finished with his regeneration. "Hey didn't we just walk away from that? How the hell did we get back here!"

'Something's wrong, I was sure we were walking away from it!' Kuwabara thought as he took out his sword. 'What the hell is going on here?' Just then a flash of black came from the hole, it dropped down and Yusuke and Kuwabara stared in shock at the person who just came in.

"Hiei!" Both of them shouted. His hair stood up with a star white center. His usual white bandage on his forehead was gone but he was still wearing his black attire.

"What the hell are you two morons doing?" Hiei asked as the troll got closer.

"Hiei watch out, there's a troll is behind you!" Kuwabara said as the troll lashed out his arm towards both of them. When the dust blew away, Hiei has the trolls arm right through him.

"Hiei!" Yusuke shouted.

"Fools, can't you realize this is an illusion, or are you both too moronic to even tell?" Hiei said, the trolls arm coming back and he didn't even have a scratch on him.

"But, but how?" Kuwabara stammered.

"Idiot, use your dimensional sword." Hiei said.

"Hey! Who're calling an idiot shrimpy!"

"Kuwabara just do it!" Yusuke shouted.

"Fine." Kuwabara's sword transformed from its usual yellow lightning appearance to a more finer, sword looking one. Kuwabara let out a battle shout and cut the troll. It shattered like glass, the dark sewer like tunnel became ruins and they found that they were in a cave.

"Woah, what happened?" Yusuke asked, looking around.

"You were caught in a trap, not that unlikely considering it was you two, but more importantly Kurama in still stuck in the illusion." Hiei explained.

"Wait, how come you weren't affected?" Yusuke asked.

"My jagan eye, I was able to not be affected by the illusion when I entered the fortress. As long as it was uncovered I could easily avoid the trap but you two buffoons were running around like idiots, it was amusing for a while." Hiei said.

"You mean you saw us and didn't help us!" Kuwabara shouted.

"I was only led here with a small explanation on what do to, someone lied to me, saying that I can get a good fight and some information for Mukuro, but it doesn't look like I'll find anything." Hiei said.

"Who led you here Hiei?" Yusuke asked.

"It was a demon named Yasu. I was on patrol near this area when he found me and told me I could find out more about the fanatics that have been going around demon world. Mukuro gave me her consent, she wanted to find out more."

"So you've heard about the revolutionaries too huh?" Yusuke said and Hiei nodded. "But still, we need to get going, Kurama is still stuck and so is Naota, not only that Hikaru is still captured." Yusuke explained. "You don't need to stay here if you don't want to Hiei." Yusuke said.

"Hn, who knows if you two fall into another simple trap, not only that I still could learn a thing or two if I stay with you." Hiei said, following the way out of the cave.

"That damn shorty." Kuwabara said, crossing his arms.

"Lay off Kuwabara, he helped us and now we can help Kurama, where is he anyway?" Yusuke asked. Kuwabara closed his eyes focusing on the energy.

"Naota is actually pretty close to us, if we keep walking we'll run into her and Kurama is on the same path but we still have to walk a bit in order to get to him." Kuwabara said.

"Alright, then let's get going."

00000

Yusuke's rook and Kuwabara's knight disappeared from the board and Shuichi panicked for a split second. Yuu chuckled, his eyes dancing with happiness. Shuichi's hands tightened into fists, Naota coming ever closer to the two of them.

"Only your queen is left, I guess my bishop was too much for both of them. It's a shame, I was wishing to play this game a little longer. You can still choose to come to our side Kurama, you can still save your queen and pawn. Just say yes." Yuu stated.

'No, I can't, Kuwabara and Yusuke both can't be defeated by an A class demon. Something is wrong, there is something that I'm missing, but what?' Kurama thought. Yuu smirked, while bring up his fan.

'Fool, there is no escaping my illusion. They are so strong, your body will feel the pain and will die underneath it. If only I can defeat his queen, then I can turn him into our side, or I could kill his reason for being here, what to do? What can I do to make him suffer so completely he would come to our side?' Yuu thought.

"Unfortunately for you I am on a schedule, how about we end this game? Queen, attack his queen." The piece moved in front of Naota and Shuichi glared at him darkly. Yuu chuckled. "My queen is S class, your B class queen will not win this round, and all you can do is just sit tightly or else your other friend will plummet to her death. Not only that the heat from the lava impends your plants, they cannot grow here. You are cornered fox, now choose wisely, lest all your loved ones die." Yuu cackled. Shuichi felt himself getting beaten, unable to make a strategy again Yuu.

As the queen was set Naota's queen piece vanished from the board and Shuichi felt a pit of despair in the bottom of his stomach. His brow furrowed and his bangs shielded his eyes while Yuu laughed maniacally. Just then a sword sliced through the door and the illusion was shattered.

* * *

_Now that the illusion has shattered what will become of Yuu? How come Yasu has decided to help Hiei and the others when he has already betrayed him? Will they be able to save Hikaru in time? Find all of this and more on the next excited chapter of Someone I can love!  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_There has to be a god because i got another review from one of my old reviewers! :DDDD i'm really happy right now, like super happy but i'm not really happy with this chapter, but unfortunately i've already re written this twice and finally got something that i like, somewhat, but even then i don't like it, grrrr, but finally we're getting headway, i shall resume my weekly updating after being depressed for a bit (i finally got a 3D image of my son's face :3 )  
_

_Thank you for everyone that has stood with me till this point and now onwards!  
_

* * *

Shuichi got up from his seat as everyone started to tumble down, the illusion fading and on his face a wave of relief. The floor was cracked, the sky outside shined as lighting burst and the river of lava turned into a raging normal river. Yuu stood up, the chess pieces vanishing, and the group happy that they finally found their last member.

"Kurama get away from him, he's been playing with our heads this entire time!" Kuwabara said, rushing forward to slice Yuu.

"We've been stuck inside an illusion this entire time!" Naota said, running after Kuwabara. She looked up, Hikaru, dangling from a single rope from a tree over the raging water. 'Hikaru.' Kuwabara let out a shout, running past Kurama and slicing Yuu. He smirked as he jumped, his form slowly turned into the Negotiator.

"What the?" Kuwabara started.

"You." Shuichi said. The Negotiator sighed.

"Well now, this was interesting, but I told Yuu that this wouldn't work, still I'm sad to see that I wasn't able to get to our objective." He said, crouching low.

"Alright, you little freak, it's time to pound your face into the ground!" Yusuke said, letting out a battle shout and appearing in from of him. The negotiator dodged most of his fast punches and Kuwabara's slices from behind. Kuwabara only got to slice off one of his sleeves before the Negotiator appeared on top of the table with the chessboard.

"I hate to be rude, it's about time I introduce myself, my name is Satoru, the Negotiator. I will ask you one more time Kurama, will you join us in our endeavors?" Satoru said, looking down at Shuichi.

"I'm afraid I will have to decline." Shuichi said, a playful smirk on his face. Satoru glared at him.

"Pity."

"Out of the way Kurama, Spirit gun!" Yusuke said, letting it rip. Shuichi jumped out of the way but surprising to all, Satoru, with a wave of his hand, slapped it away like a child's plaything. Yusuke cursed and Kuwabara gritted his teeth.

"This is getting tiring, lets makes things more exciting shall we?" Satoru said, flinging his arm with the sleeve still attached, he threw a single knife and cut the rope. Naota gasped as Hikaru fell in the water, her arms and feet bound. Yusuke cursed again, distracted by Hikaru, Satoru appeared before him and upper cutted him with his palm. He appeared before Kuwabara and did a powerful palm attack to his chest. Kuwabara spat up blood and Yusuke fell to the floor. Hiei appeared and started to slash at him, giving Naota enough time to dive into the water.

Shuichi started to run along the river's edge, trying to find Naota or Hikaru. Hiei and Satoru seemed evenly matched in speed but Hiei was still faster and hit successfully at his face, cutting one of the belts wrapped around it. Satoru and Hiei stared at each other, blood pouring from Satoru's face.

"Yea! Way to go shorty!" Kuwabara said, clutching his chest. Yusuke rubbed his chin and spat out some blood. 'Damn, I almost bit my tongue, what's with this guy?' Yusuke thought.

"Hey, freak, why don't you go all out, wouldn't be much of a fight if you held back." Yusuke taunted and Satoru chuckled.

"Please, a worthless thing like you is not even a challenge for me at full strength." Satoru said. Yusuke got up and charged at him. Satoru easily avoided his attacks, Yusuke gave a battle shout and punched but Satoru caught it easily.

"Why do you fight? You are no longer a spirit detective, what do you have to gain by doing this?" Kuwabara and Hiei tried to strike at him but he effortlessly moved away.

"I like the human world, and I've got something I have to protect." Yusuke answered, Kuwabara and Hiei at his side. Satoru's gaze softened slightly.

"So you too have something you have to protect, then we are not that different after all. But I have my own reasons for doing the things I must do. I'm sorry, but I must take my leave for now, maybe one day we will meet again, Yusuke Urameshi." Satoru said, flinging his arm, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"We've wasted enough time here, let's go." Hiei said, running the same direction Shuichi went to. Yusuke let his eyes linger on the stop Satoru was and started running as well.

00000

Naota felt her body being tossed and turned by the torrents that kept coming, she barely avoided a few boulders here and there before finally getting her ground and swimming towards Hikaru. She goes to the surface to catch some air trying to stay focused on where she could be. She finds Hikaru's rope attached to a broken log, her face out of the water, trying to stay afloat.

"Hikaru!" Naota shouted. She turned and gave a weak smile, only for the log to give way, releasing Hikaru to the unforgiving water. 'Shit!' Naota thought as she dived down, trying to use the currents to her advantage. They were too strong as she tried desperately to get closer to Hikaru. Through the water she faintly saw a light and Hikaru's ropes were cut, allowing her to go to the surface. Naota's hopes went up and she breaks the surface to get more air. She faintly hears some yelling to her side but the water clogged her ears, she couldn't hear them well.

Shuichi and the others finally managed to catch up to Naota, seeing her trying hard to get to Hikaru who is also trying to keep her head above the water.

"Damn it! If we don't do something both of them are gonna drown!" Yusuke said. "Kuwabara can't you just use your long sword or something?"

"No the current is moving too fast and erratically, he won't make it in time." Shuichi said.

"Well you might want to figure something out soon, we're getting closer to the edge." Hiei said.

"What!" Yusuke shouted. It's true, the sound of rushing water was getting closer, Hiei sped up, trying to see where the edge was.

Satoru watched as the two girls got closer and closer to the raging waterfall. Yasu appeared next to him and smiled.

"Aren't you the joyful one?" Satoru said. "Are you positive it will show?"

"Don't worry, her power tends to come out in the most convenient times." Yasu said. As Naota's body began tumbling around for the umpteenth time she heard a crackling noise behind her. She swayed her body and looked, noticing the log from before coming towards her. Shuichi and the others noticed too late as the log was about to hit her.

And then, darkness set in.

000

Naota found herself floating in darkness, she put her hands up but couldn't see anything. It's as if she fell in the bottom of an ocean. She leaned forwards, trying to feel something with her feet until she felt hard ground. She let out a big breath and wondered how she got there.

"Where am I?" She said out loud.

You are in my realm. A woman with long black hair, red eyes and pale skin appeared before her. How interesting that you found yourself in here. Our powers must be linking in a great rate. I will soon show myself if that is the case.

"You're the fairy from when I was a kid!" Naota said. She raised her white sleeve and let out an airy laugh, it made Naota blush slightly.

Call me what you like child, now tell me, what brings you here?

"I was trying to save a friend who got swept away in a river, when a log came towards me as I swam to her, I don't remember anything after that." The woman floats around Naota with a smile on her face, her very presence illuminating the darkness.

You need my help to save her, your power alone cannot. Naota's face fell and she frowned. The woman floated behind her, and wraps her in a loving embrace as would a mother.

Do not worry child, our joining will come soon. If this power will help you gain a step closer towards me, then I shall lend you my power! Her voice resonated around them, piercing the darkness with light.

000

The log disintegrated as soon as it reached Naota and the water was pushed back as her barrier grew and grew until it encompassed everything including Hikaru who was still within reach. The others stared dumbfounded as energy seemed to pour out of Naota, her body giving off a slight glimmer and her eyes shined with bright light. Satoru and Yasu watched excitedly. Hiei quickly took Hikaru from the ground and towards to shore. Naota saw this and as soon as Hikaru was safe, fainted, the energy lost. The river soon poured towards her. Hiei was about to get her too until someone carried her to where they were. Yusuke backed off when Shuichi's energy skyrocketed. Yasu was carrying a fainted Naota, Kuwabara was helping Hikaru as she coughed up water and Shuichi pulled out his weapon, his eyes a mixture of green and gold.

"Your stare becomes colder every time we meet Shuichi." Yasu said.

"Kurama, hey." Yusuke said carefully.

"Do not interfere Yusuke." Shuichi said. Tense silence ravaged the group, the only sounds were of Hikaru coughing up the water from the river. As Naota began to stir, Yasu made a slight movement and Shuichi's whip suddenly held his neck. Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted from surprise and Yasu dropped Naota on the ground.

"Hey!" Naota shouted before seeing the situation in front of her. "Shuichi what are you doing?"

"All of this cannot be coincidence. Yasu knowing how Hiei's power can cut through the illusion, sending him to us, he is hiding something, and I intend to find out what that is." Shuichi said. Naota slowly stood up and Yasu started to chuckle.

"You don't need to use excessive violence for that, I'll save you the trouble. I was busy betraying you." The group looked at him with dumb looks, even Shuichi was slightly surprised by his answer.

"What!"

00000

"Alright," Yusuke started, sitting in the chair while Shuichi and Kuwabara sat in a couch opposite from Yasu, Naota and Hikaru resting in a bedroom. "So let's get this straight you are 'betraying' us going over to the revolutionaries while at the same time betraying them and staying with us…This is way too confusing!" Yusuke said standing up in exasperation.

"He's a double agent Yusuke, working for them while having allegiance to us." Shuichi explained.

"But still, why the hell would you do that?" Yusuke asked. Yasu smiled and Yusuke frowned.

"To gain more information, I had to enter. They want information on you, I want information on them, it's a simple trade, but who's to say I'm lying about my information?" Yasu said.

"And that's why you had to go and kidnap Hikaru?" Naota asked, leaning against a wall in the hallway, wearing a white t shirt and some shorts.

"I had to do something to prove my loyalty, but like Hikaru explained to you on the way I was also the reason why they didn't kill her in the first place." Yasu explained. "Their plan was the kill her once you came and by the illusion she would still be alive, giving you a false sense of hope, but what if the plan were to fail? Then we would lose your trust and faith, by doing so, we would lose the chance to gain Shuichi as our ally if we choose to recruit him again later on. They also wished to kill Naota, possibly try to recruit Kuwabara and Yusuke through the illusion but I couldn't let you die, so I brought in Hiei. I knew his jagan eye would be able to see through the illusion but not break it. Kuwabara is the only one to break through Yuu's illusions, in the end we are all still alive aren't we?" Yasu said.

"Hikaru almost died because of you!" Naota shouted. Yasu smirked.

"But you were able to see her again, weren't you? In the end, you saved her." Naota gripped her fists.

"And so you gambled on the idea that I could've awaken her again? What if it didn't happen? Then I would be dead and so would Hikaru!"

"But you did awaken her." Yasu said calmly. Naota glared at him one final time before going back to her room.

"You're not really that popular with the ladies are you?" Kuwabara mocked him and Yasu just smiled. 'That smile is really getting on my nerves!' All of them thought. Naota open the door slowly, Hikaru was sleeping on the bed and on the floor was a futon. Naota knelt and looked at Hikaru's face, her eyes swollen. Naota rubbed her head a bit and felt guilty. Hikaru broke as soon as they settled in one of Mukuro's many rooms and held on to Naota for dear life, she was so scared that she would die and never see the outside world again. Only recently that she finally passed out from all the crying and Naota can't help to feel that it was her fault.

"I dragged you into this world, I'm sorry, if only there was a way to make you normal." Naota thought outloud.

'But the only way is to erase your memory of me and Shuichi altogether.' Naota thought. She sighed, thinking that this is getting too much for her close friend. She rested her head in her arms and closed her eyes.

Is that really what you want for her? To lose all her memories of you and the fox? She was sitting in a cherry blossom tree; everything around her seemed to glow in the darkness. A few petals floated around Naota's face as she sat with her knees to her chest against the trunk of the tree.

"It's not that I want it, if it was my decision I would want her to stay my friend but this experience taught me that they'll go after her because of me and Shuichi. If we weren't her friends, none of this would have happened."

It would have happened to someone other than her then. The fox's mother, his family, it does not matter to them. They want the fox's power and he will not let them have it peacefully, and so they try to take it by force. Your friend was unlucky, she got caught in the cross fire. But you will have the power to protect her. She glides down next to Naota. Train, become stronger and you'll never have to worry about this happening. She opens her arms and Naota felt herself being pulled into her embrace, like a mother embracing her child, they sit silently underneath the tree. Naota feeling weightless as she feels the soft cotton shielding her from her guilt.

Do not worry child, I will be there when the time comes when you need me, but that time can come sooner if you train. You must grow stronger, only then will I truly be known to you.

* * *

_Is Yasu really a double agent or a triple agent that's gonna stab them in the back someday? Who is this fairy and why is she only making herself known now? What is the relationship between Yasu and Satoru? Find all this and more on the next exciting chapter of Someone I can love!_

_(grrr still can't like this chapter, need a beta, anyone willing?)  
_


	7. Chapter 7

_I know i said i'd be doing weekly updates but my feet get super swollen when i sat down so i went and bought a laptop but I already gave birth! Complications arose but my baby is safe, still in the hospital, hopefully will get discharged today so i can finally take him home, but now that i don't get swollen to the point where i feel like daggers are stabbing my feet I will be updating more frequently! Especially since i'm on maternity leave :3 without further gabbling, here's the chappie!_

* * *

Shuichi looks out the many windows of Mukuro's moving fortress. Yusuke noticed him and smirked.

"Kurama! What are you doing here all alone?" Yusuke said, hitting his backside.

"You startled me Yusuke." Shuichi said and continue staring out into demon world. Yusuke looked at the same direction, not really paying attention to demon's world never changing landscape.

"Well Kurama, I know you're never a guy for long talks but I gotta ask, what's with the long face?" Yusuke asked.

"What do you mean?" Kurama answered.

"I mean, I don't know, you just look lonely I guess. I was just wondering what's on your mind." Yusuke asked, Kurama took in a big breath and let it out.

"I have a lot of things on my mind right now. I would never think that I would be back in this position again. I only thought that I'd continue in the Demon Tournament simply for pleasure sake, but now here we are, rescuing the world again, but this time I'm doing it out of my own volition. I can't let these extremists get away with what they're doing." Kurama explained.

"That's what you say but all I hear is, 'I can't let anything happen to my girlfriend.'" Yusuke snickered. Kurama's eyes narrowed and Yusuke visibly sweat dropped.

"Yusuke, please don't mention that again, I have enough time trying to control myself around her." Kurama said.

"So you admit it then?" Yusuke said slowly, not wanting to test the waters too much.

"If you must know Yusuke, I am in love with Naota, but I am not like you. I do not want a relationship with her, not now, not ever." Kurama said. Yusuke looked at Kurama with worry. His face looked to be in pain.

"Not like me? What do you mean?" Yusuke pressed on.

"Yusuke, you are a human-demon hybrid and yet you still carry on with Keiko. You do know that you will outlive her eventually, your demon blood won't allow you to age along side her. You will be forced to see her end of days while you still have to carry on. Even if you do have children with her, we still do not know whether they will carry on your genes or hers, you may be forced to see your family die in front of you, slowly, but surely. I cannot bear to think that one day I might lose Naota to the test of time, I do not think I can bear it." Kurama said, clenching his fist. Yusuke looked out to the landscape, thinking about what Kurama said. After a long stretch of silence, Kurama sighed.

"I am sorry Yusuke. If I offended you-"

"Kurama, I know that one day I'll have to see Keiko die. You didn't think I didn't know. Sometimes the thought comes and goes but still, I love Keiko. Even though I might live to where I'll still be looking young and she'll look like an old hag, I'm not afraid. I want to be with her, that's good enough for me. One thing's for sure though, our children will have my demon energy. Like Raizen I think I can pass on my demon stuff to them too, or at least I'll try. So even if Keiko dies, a part of her will still be inside me. And who knows? She might be reincarnated again, and we can do it all over again." Yusuke said with a smile and Kurama smiled with him as well.

"I admire your strength Yusuke." Kurama said.

"So then why don't you do the same?" Yusuke said and Kurama's smile dropped.

"You may be strong Yusuke, but I do not think I have the same strength as you do, I am just too scared of seeing her pass." Kurama said.

"So you rather want to her die young here in demon world instead of letting her grow old?" Yusuke retorted.

"No of course not!" Kurama said.

"Then? What's gonna hurt more? Letting her die in the next tournament, or letting her live long enough where you see the woman you love in someone else's arms?" Yusuke asked. Kurama looked away towards the floor and Yusuke let out a big sigh.

"Look Kurama, don't make the same mistake I almost did. Think about it." Yusuke said walking away. "Oh and don't forget pacifier breath wants to talk with us with Mukuro, so once you're done, get your butt moving." He left Kurama to his own mind, which is not really the best place to be at right now.

00000

Naota looked at Hikaru's sleeping form, her idea of wanting to erase her memories plaguing her. 'I don't want her to suffer again, as long as she knows me and Shuichi, she's just gonna get caught up in this, if…if I could just…' Naota reached toward Hikaru's forehead and rested her hand on top of it. 'It could be easy as this, just focus and-'

"Naota?" Hikaru said softly and Naota quickly removed her hand, Hikaru's eyes blinked slowly, trying to get used to the light.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Naota asked.

"Tired, how long have I been sleeping?" Hikaru asked her voice a bit hoarse.

"Almost a day, but that's not surprising considering what you went through, do you remember?" Naota asked.

"I remember almost drowning and a big castle, and you going all weird but not much after that." Hikaru said, sitting up. "Where are we?"

"In a moving fortress owned by one of the ex demon kings Mukuro. We'll be going back to human world in a bit so don't you worry." Naota forced a smile.

"What's wrong?" Hikaru asked. Naota clenched her fists and tried to put on her happy face but found that she couldn't.

"Hikaru, wouldn't it be easier if you never knew me?" Naota asked. Hikaru looked at her with confusion. "If you didn't know me you wouldn't be in this mess, fighting for your life, almost being killed, and it's all because you know me and Shuichi, if you didn't know me, none of this would've happened."

"So, you're my friend, and besides you saved me." Hikaru said.

"But still, if you weren't my friend you wouldn't have been caught up in this mess! It's my carelessness that allowed this to happen, if only you didn't know me-" Hikaru slapped Naota. Naota slowly cupped her red cheek in her hand and stared at Hikaru in shock.

"Don't be stupid, I want to be your friend, it's been this way, just now it's the other way around. I can't protect you anymore and now you protect me, but even then, we're still friends after all these years. You really want that to end? Well I'm sorry but I'm not about to let that happen so unless you kill me, you're stuck with me!" Hikaru shouted at her. Naota started to tear up and let a few escape her eyes. "You're my friend and I love you, I won't leave."

"I'm sorry, I just got so scared, the fact that I could lose you because I'm so weak, it hurts so much. Why couldn't I stop this from the beginning, I just was thinking selfishly, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." Naota said through sobs.

"Look at you, stop crying, it's ok alright? Or should I call Shuichi to dry those tears for you?" Hikaru said, smirking slyly.

"No!" Naota shouted.

"Then stop crying you dummy." Hikaru said, knocking her fist softly on Naota's head. Both started smiling and then laughing. "But anyway, I'll be fine, you're fine, we're both fine. So don't think anything useless ok?" Hikaru asked and Naota nodded. She stood up and dusted off her pants.

"I need to get going, we're going over all the info that we collected so far. After that Koenma is gonna take you home, we're not taking any chances again with you." Naota laughed slightly.

"Alright, I'll be here bored out of my mind while you go do your thing, maybe I'll take a nap." Hikaru said, lying back down into bed. Naota took one last look at her and went out. Naota found out however that trying to find your way in a fortress seemed to be impossible. 'Crap, I knew I should've drawn out a map or something, I'm so lost right now!' She thought, looking down the hallway and not knowing where the meeting place could be. 'Well at least it seems to be going straight, but I'm not sure if that's good or bad.' As she kept walking she finally saw a familiar patch of red hair, she started running, wanting to catch Shuichi before his figure left her sight. As she got closer she noticed his sad turned to her as she ran, and she smiled and waved before stopping a bit before him.

"Hey Shuichi, this place is a big maze! Thankfully I found you." Naota said and Shuichi nodded. "Are you ok? Are you feeling well?"

"I am fine, just thinking." Shuichi said.

"About what?" Naota said. Shuichi looked at her dead in the eyes and Naota looked away, feeling a bit timid under his stare.

"There is to be a meeting with Mukuro and Koenma, we should get going." Shuichi said, walking down a nearby hallway.

"O-ok." Naota stuttered, feeling a bit flustered that Shuichi stared at her for so long. She tentatively reached for his shirt and he looked at her. "Ah! Sorry, it's just that, I don't want to get lost again?" Naota said and bit her lip when she realized it came out as a question. Shuichi nodded silently and kept going. Naota felt a pang in her heart. 'Is Shuichi really alright? He's never this quiet, and when he is, he's smiling. What happened?' Naota silently thought until they came upon double doors. Shuichi opened them and everyone was there, minus Hikaru. Shuichi and Naota sat down on a couch provided for them. Naota looked at the person at the head in what appeared to be large beanie bag couches. She had short hair half of her face covered with cloth and a large monocle, you can see the skin was warped underneath it. She had a kind smile on and Naota thought that this must be the ex demon king Mukuro.

"I'm so glad to see everyone is finally here." Koenma started, standing next to Mukuro. "As you all know, we have just witness two generals in our recent mission, Mukuro and Hiei are here to give us information about the last general, Mukuro?"

"Thank you Koenma. In recent times here in demon world there has been a large gathering of demons calling themselves Revolutionaries, leaded by a young demon called Akio, I still have not seen him physically, he remains a mystery but I do know of the last General. His name is Inugami." Mukuro got out a remote out of nowhere and pressed a button. A monitor appeared behind her showing what appeared to be a young man with a cocky grin on his face. He had tanned skin, long black hair and wolf ears on his head. He wore a black fighting uniform with a long scar appearing on his chest.

"He loves to have duels with various demons but recently demons who fight with him and lost must follow the revolutionaries or risk getting killed by him. He has recruited thousands of demons this way, but even though they have been recruited, it's mostly by force, none of the demons actually are loyal to him or their cause." Mukuro explained.

"And now we know all four of them Tanya, Yuu, Satoru, and Inugami." Koenma said.

"We also know by my infiltration that they have put out a cease fire on the spirit detectives. I am lead to believe that they plan to train for one year until the tournament starts again." Yasu said from the wall.

"So what do you want us to do?" Yusuke asked.

"Get stronger of course, or do you still need permission from Koenma to do that Yusuke?" Hiei said.

"Shut your mouth tiny! We know we got to get stronger!" Kuwabara shouted and Hiei hn-ed.

"Train as much as you can, this coming year. The demon tournament will be our shot at taking these Generals out, and maybe their ringleader will also fight in the demon tournament. He will make himself known, it's during that time that we should do whatever we can to stop him." Koenma said. "Kurama, you have trained others before, I leave Naota in your care." Shuichi nodded but Naota looked confused.

"But Koenma, Yasu was always training me, why the change?" Naota said.

"Yasu will still be in recon, giving us information on our enemy and their movements, for that he will be part of their ranks and won't be able to train you if he's going back and forth from the human and demon world. Don't worry, Kurama has trained people before you, he will make sure you at least reach low A class status once the tournament begins. Good luck to all of you, hopefully we wont' see the world ending soon." Koenma said.

00000

Naota felt the breeze and shivered, following Shuichi to a mountain training pass where he trained other demons before. She is in awe of the tall peaks that surrounds her. Walking in front of her was Shuichi, opening two big double doors intricately designed. She walks in getting away from the strong winds. Inside was a big empty room with a bunch of columns. 'Wow, where did this place come from?' Naota wondered.

"This is where we will be training. I have trained various of my friends here before the first demon tournament and raised them to regular A class demons. Hopefully my training will do the same to you." Shuichi said and Naota nodded. "But before I go on, I think it's time for introductions."

"Well it's about time!" A voice shouted from behind Naota, scaring her into hiding behind Shuichi.

"Good going Chu, it seems like you scared her."

"Oh! I'm sorry Sheila, didn't mean ta' scare ya."

"Either way, your voice is still too loud." Naota eyes adjusted a bit when some lights came on.

"Naota, I'd like to introduce you to some of my friends, Chu, Touya and Shishiwakamaru."

"Who would've known that the new spirit detective would be so cute?" A big burly man with a purple mohawk said.

"Aren't you together with Natsume? I don't think she'll be happy to hear you flirting with someone else." A young man with blue eyes, strands of greenish hair in front of his eyes said with slicked blue hair.

"Let him be Touya, who said you can't take more than one?" A man with pink eyes and blue hair with two strands standing straight up said. Shuichi laughed at them and Naota went to stand beside him.

"They will be helping you train as well as some others who have yet to arrive." Shuichi explained.

"So you gonna be workin' us to tha bone again Kurama?" Chu asked.

"Yes but I'll also be needing your help to train her to A class level." Shuichi said, motioning to Naota.

"I'm sorry I got scared but, my name is Naota Yukino, pleased to meet you." Naota said, bowing. Chu laughed boisterously and wrapped an arm around her.

"Don't be so formal sheila, we're all here for the same thing, to get stronger." Naota sweat dropped from his sudden touch.

"We are honored as well to be training with you." Touya bowed and Shishi said nothing.

"Now that we have introductions out of the way, it's best if we rest first, we will begin training tomorrow morning." Shuichi said walking away. Chu started rambling on while Naota kept her eyes on Shuichi's back, still wondering if he's ok.

* * *

_Will training go smoothly as planned? What's with Shuichi's sudden silent treatment? Will this be a rocky year for Naota and Shuichi or will there finally be some actual romantic development between them? Find out all this and more on Someone I can Love!_

_p.s. (I am so sorry if I screw up Chu's accent, it's very hard to write accents, its fine if someone mentions it but please can someone tell me how to write it correctly?)_


	8. Chapter 8

_Well I'm on a roll! I'm very determined to write this out finally, with the time I have now I can :3 I'm just writing for one person basically but that keeps me going :3 So thank you Shadow Realm Triforce, wanna one shot? I can write you one if you'd like for sticking with me so long, but anyone here's the chapter!_

* * *

"Again." Shuichi said and Chu started to circle around Naota. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on his energy. She dealt a swift round about kick towards her back but only caught Chu's mirage before he appeared at her side and did a quick straight punch. She barely caught it with her arm before he sent her flying towards the wall. She walked away from the hole she left behind, and put her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

"Not bad Sheila, I didn't knock your lights out that time." Chu said with a laugh.

"But she still wasn't able to do a counter." Shuichi sighed. They have been training Naota for about 3 months now. During that time her evasiveness has gotten higher but her reaction time to attacks only improved slightly. Shuichi was wondering whether or not her level really can go higher.

"I can do it, we just need to keep training." Naota said, trying to brush off all the dust on her training clothes. She had a few scrapes and her back will probably bruise bad by tomorrow, but she was on a time limit and could not afford to just sit back and let a few bruises get to her.

"Chu, keep on training her. I will go mix some herbs for her wounds, remember do not go easy on her." Shuichi said with a glare and walked out. He heard them start again while he went down a small hallway into his room. He had a few pots set out with various plants used for medicine, the only thing he can use for Naota's wounds. As he plucked a few leaves he felt Touya's energy behind him.

"We got some new info on some of our comrades." Touya said. Shuichi looked at him and nodded. "Jin has been recruited into the Revolutionaries, Inugami wiped the floor with him apparently, so we now we know why he hasn't been responding to us. Any demon that associates with any of the former spirit detectives and his friends that have been recruited are not allowed to communicate with them. If they do and are found out, they are killed."

"Has anyone else been caught?" Shuichi asked, setting down his herbs.

"Rinku, Natsume, which is probably why Chu isn't fighting this time around, Hokushin, and Suzuka. That's as far as we know, there could be more." Touya said and Kurama let out a deep sigh.

"Thank you Touya, right now Chu is training Naota on her counter and evasiveness, you will duel her once she's done." Kurama said, taking his herbs.

"Are you sure? She's always pretty spent after she trains with Chu." Touya remarked.

"Her level won't go up if we continue to go easy on her. She needs to train as if she's fighting for her life, otherwise she will die in the upcoming tournament. She will always have enough time to recover after her fights." Kurama said coldly. Touya stared at him as he walked out and he let out a breath he didn't know he had. Shishi appeared beside him staring at Shuichi as well.

"You've noticed?" Shishi asked.

"It's hard not to. I don't know why but he's training her harder than he trained us, she doesn't need to go that far. She's progressing very quickly." Touya said.

"Chu has an interesting theory about why." Shishi chuckled. Touya looked at him confused. "Love makes you do crazy things."

00000

Naota groaned in pain. It's been a long day and the herb bath was helping work out all the kinks she had worked in during her training. She got in a scrape finally against Chu, much good that did her when he keeps flinging her against the walls. Touya is a worse opponent, she can't stand the cold for too long and often has to use her own energy to try to keep herself warm. 'I can't even get a good hit on him either since I'm focused so much on not freezing to death.'

She sinks deeper in the water, letting the herbs help heal away her various cuts and scrapes. Unfortunately they don't work with bruises, she is gonna have a super sore back tomorrow. She blew out bubbles in the water, thinking about Kurama's sudden personality change. 'He rarely has a conversation with me, doesn't look me in the eye, and just cares about my training, it's like I don't even exist to him anymore. What happened?'

She kept wondering until she realized her bath was starting to get cold. She sighed heavily and lifted herself gently from her bath, she's gonna have to wear her back brace so she won't have any future implications. She walked out with a groan, a towel over her shoulder so she wouldn't dampen her shirt. As she walked slowly towards her room she found Chu waiting on the wall.

"Hey there Sheila, can't believe you actually got a hit in." Chu chuckled, pointing at his small cut on his cheek.

"Doesn't really matter if its just that, Shuichi won't be satisfied until I fully destroy you I think." Naota said and Chu let out a loud laugh which made her feel slightly more relaxed.

"So Sheila, I have a question, if you don't mind me asking." Chu said and she shook her head.

"Are you in love with Kurama?" Chu asked and Naota felt her face immediately heat up. She looked away in embarrassment when Chu started to laugh.

"Is it really that noticeable?" Naota said.

"When you're looking at him like it might be the last day you're with him, it gets noticeable 'sides, I have that same look in my eye when I look at my girl. The real question is this, why haven't you told him?" Chu asked and Naota's eyes fell.

"I'm afraid Chu, that he'll reject me. I've been living with these feelings so long, I don't really know how to explain it to him without making a fool out of myself." Naota confessed.

"Well as long as you get the message across, I think he'll get the idea." Chu said. "It's best to do it before the tournament. We don't know if this is gonna be the end of the world or not."

"You think we might lose?" Naota asked as Chu walked away.

"I've already lost my friends to those freaks, I just hope we can all be strong enough to stop them before they do further harm." Chu said before finally walking away.

Naota entered her room and leaned against the frame, thinking about what Chu said to her. 'As long as I get the message across, huh?'

Shuichi surveyed the damage done by the training that day. Several holes in the walls and some ice still clinged to several columns. 'If this keeps going then we might destroy the training grounds first, maybe we should move outside.' He leaned against one of the columns away from the center when he heard someone's feet shuffle. It was Naota, she had her hair down reaching past her back. Shuichi never noticed how her hair has grown. She ran her hand through her hair, grabbing her ends.

"Split ends, maybe I should cut it, can't do anything with it long." Naota thought out loud. "This place is a mess, I think I might end up destroying the place with the way I seem to be thrown all over the place." Shuichi chuckled at their shared thought. Naota turned towards him startled.

"Oh Shuichi, geez you scared me." Naota lightly chuckled.

"Sorry, I was just thinking the same thing. We might have to move our training sessions outside, if not Genkai will likely kill me if the training room gets ruined more." Shuichi said.

"It's so cold outside, the breeze always picks up around night." Naota said walking towards him, her hands around herself. "It's still cold around here, even without Touya." She stood next to him, both silent. She sneaked looks at him from her peripheral vision. She tensed up, trying to gather the courage for what she was about to do.

"Shuichi, are you ok?" Naota said, coming in front of him, her eyes furrowed deeply. He looked at her in surprise, she caught him off guard.

"I'm fine." Kurama said, looking away.

"No you're not, why won't you look at me? You've been acting very strange ever since we came back from Demon world. You won't look at me, or talk to me in a real conversation, you push me to my limits every day in training ever since we started, is something wrong? Did I do something?" Naota exclaimed.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong." Shuichi said.

"Then why won't you look at me?" Naota said silently.

'Because if I do...' Shuichi thought to himself, letting his eyes meet hers, 'I might lost control.'

'This is it, if I don't do it now, I might not get another chance.' Naota thought.

"Shuichi, there's something...I've been meaning to tell you. All these years being with you, knowing you, writing letters to you, if I don't tell you now, I might regret it later. Shuichi I'm in lo-" Shuichi cut her off by suddenly embracing her. She felt his strong arms wrap around her frame, felt his hot breath in her hair, her head resting on his shoulder. She was confused.

"Please don't say those words. If you do, I won't be able to control myself anymore. Listen closely Naota, we cannot be together. I'm sorry, but I cannot accept your feelings." Shuichi whispered. Naota felt a dagger strike her heart. She felt something break inside of her, shattering into pieces. She forced herself out of his grasp, she couldn't see straight for the tears welled up so much in her eyes. He reached out to her but she flinched away.

Show no weakness.

She ran, and kept running until she hit something hard.

Show no pain.

"Woah! Hey you ok?" Chu asked, looking at her tear streamed face. She got up and ran some more. "Hey!"

You are not worthy.

She finally reached her room, she grabbed the door and slammed it shut, her breath coming in short. Hyperventilating she goes to her bed, grabs the pillow, and wails in despair into it.

Not worthy to see these tears.

00000

Shuichi sat outside, the breeze tussling his hair in all directions. He looked down on his hands, feeling empty inside. The world has turned black and white. He heard the double doors slam into the mountain.

"Oy! What the hell is going on? I just saw a crying Naota scrambling for her room! What did you do!?" Chu exclaimed, Touya and Shishi watching from the door, forced to be there by Chu.

"I did what I had to." Shuichi said.

"And what's that eh?" Chu said crossing his arms. Shuichi stood up and looked at him.

"I rejected her, it's as simple as that." Shuichi said, his eyes fogged over.

"You little-" Chu grabbed him by his shirt. "Don't you understand how much that girl is in love with ya?! Everyone here can see that! Why would you go and do a heartless thing like that!? Do you want her to become strong? That isn't the way you stupid little bastard!"

"Chu! That's enough! Let him down. This is between Kurama and Naota. We're only here to help him train her that's it." Touya explained.

"You didn't see her face. I've been knocking her out flat on her back for about 3 months now. We talk when we can, she's a sweet one alright, I can't imagine anyone hurting her like that." Chu said.

"Chu, Kurama already made his decision, you can't take it back." Shishi said. Chu furrowed his brow and let him go. Shuichi rubbed his neck as Chu started down the path.

"Chu! Where are you going?" Touya asked.

"Leave me alone, I need a breather." Chu said.

"I apologize for Chu's behavior Kurama. I told him not to get involve in your personal affairs." Touya said.

"Although a touch of drama did make this training exercise interesting." Shishi said into his robes.

"Shishi!" Touya remarked.

"It's alright Touya, you do not need to apologize. I also need time alone, if you don't mind." Shuichi said, sitting back down.

"Let's go back inside Shishi." Touya said.

"You ruin all the fun Touya." Shishi remarked and Touya smacked him over the head.

Shuichi went back to contemplating on what he just did, and he still wasn't sure if it was right or wrong.

00000

Naota woke up from a frightening nightmare, one that she couldn't even remember or more like she didn't want to. Her eyes felt very swollen. 'It's all the crying I did yesterday, how embarrassing ' She thought. She left out a loud sigh and got up from bed. She washed her face, her eyes were super swollen and red. She decided to go out to try to clear her head.

The why was on her mind. In her mind she knew, she saw the signs and Shuichi partly confessed to her.

'So then why would he reject me?' Naota thought. She felt a pang of sadness but it quickly turned into rage. She felt her blood boiling and decided to put this to good use.

Chu got up from where he was laying. The grass having his imprint from him laying down for a long time. 'It's about time I got back I think.' Chu thought. He started to go up the mountain trail when he noticed an energy spike nearby in the forest. As he got closer he recognized the energy. He came to a clearing with a lot of fallen trees. He sees Naota and her energy surge, practicing her techniques.

Chu smirked to himself watching her train. He noticed the tear marks on her face and assumed she'd been crying while doing this. 'There is no best way to fix a broken heart, but at least she's taking out her anger on the trees instead of the training room.' She stopped her training, her breath coming out hard.

"I know you're there Chu, are you gonna stay there or are you gonna train me some more?" Naota said.

"You sure? You know you're not in the best condition to." Chu said.

"I don't care, if I'm gonna be strong enough by the next tournament, then I need this." Naota said.

"Alright, don't say I didn't warn you." Chu said, getting into stance. "Come on girly! Show me what you got!"

"Where are they? They've been gone all yesterday." Touya said, waiting in the training room.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine." Shishi said, sitting down on the floor, his sword resting in his arms. Shuichi remained silent and then the door opened. Chu came in carrying Naota on his back, both of them looked like they were ran over with a car.

"Chu! What happened?" Touya asked.

"You looked like you fought with Yusuke at full power." Shishi remarked and Chu gave out a weak laugh.

"I might as well have, this girl packs a wallop." Chu said.

"You know, you could let me down. You didn't need to carry me this far." Naota said. Chu let her down and she stumbled slightly, but she got back her footing. She had a determined look in her eye. "Hey Shishi, can I borrow your sword?" Shishi lent it to her. Shuichi looked at her wondering what she might do. She unsheathed it and whistled. "Not bad." She bunched up her hair and with a quick swipe, cut off her long locks to shoulder length, uneven but still looking good. Shuichi gasped a little, Shishi smirked, Touya looked on confused and Chu gave out his famous loud laugh.

'Naota?' Shuichi thought as she came up to him with the sword. She pointed it at him, various emotions showing through her strong golden eyes.

"Kurama, you better start training me like you mean it or this sword is going up where it hurts. Do not baby me anymore, I'm not a child, I can take care of myself. Now let's get started shall we?" She had a cocky smirk on and left Shuichi in awe at her sudden personality change. She sheathed the sword and tossed it to Shishi. "I'm gonna get changed, time to take this seriously."

"You heard the little lady time to step up our game!" Chu said before falling flat on his face. Touya and Shuichi ran to his side, while Touya was more concentrated on Chu, Shuichi was still focused on Naota.

She called him Kurama

Naota leaned her frame against the wall, wanting to disappear but at the same time, wanting to be strong. 'I'll be fine, I'll be fine...I'm fine...I'm fine...'

And so a year's time passed, and the second Demon World Tournament has begun.

* * *

_And so things have changed but is it for the best or for the worst? Will Naota finally be strong enough for the Demon Tournament? Will Shuichi be able to fix their relationship? And will the good guys win the war or will they lose to the extremists? Find out all this and more on the next chapter of Someone I can Love!_

_p.s. (On the whole hair cutting thing, truthfully in Japanese culture cutting your hair means the end of a relationship, now re read the chapter and you'll be able to get the significance.)_


	9. Chapter 9

_I personally don't like chapter, for me it feels like filler although it does have some character development, i don't know i guess i'm just not used to having so many characters, i like to focus on a few you know? Baby Ace is doing fine let's me sleep for most the night :3 he's also a very hungry baby, anyway, enough with my life here's the story!_

* * *

Crowds upon crowds of demons line up to enter the Colosseum of the tournament. A big ogre like demon with red skin was raised in a platform, waiting for all the fighters to enter. Yusuke and Kuwabara was scanning the area, trying to find their group. A man with long black hair with multiple ears approached them with another demon with short hair and pink eyes stood next to him.

"Yusuke, nice to see you again."

"Yomi! Hey how're you doing? Nice to see you again, and your brat." Yusuke said.

"I see you're still unrefined Urameshi." The child said.

"Uh Urameshi?" Kuwabara said.

"Oh yea, this is Yomi, he used to be one of the three kings of demon world, and the small one is his kid Shura. Guys, this is Kuwabara, he didn't join the last tournament, but decided to give this one a go." Yusuke explained.

"It's nice to meet you Kuwabara." Yomi said bowing and his kid hn-ed.

"Yea, it's nice to meet you too." Kuwabara said sheepishly.

"So have you heard about what's been happening? With the Revolutionaries?" Yusuke said seriously and Yomi nodded.

"I've heard but my son and I have been wandering demon world for the most part. I've been keeping a good ear out and we were able to avoid many of their recruiters. I'm surprised that Mukuro was able to get away from them as well." Yomi remarked.

"Hiei made them go away one way or another, there's no way he'd let them near her." Yusuke smirked.

"Can't believe that shorty got a girlfriend, but I got my sweet Yukina waiting for me at home!" Kuwabara said.

"Kazuma?"

"I can already hear her-Yukina!" Kuwabara shouted.

"Botan?!" Yusuke shouted along with him. Two girls presented themselves. Botan was wearing her previous costume from the last tournament to disguise herself. The girl next to her was wearing a simple light blue kimono that went along with her blue green hair but her red eyes really stood out. Yomi said his goodbye to Yusuke and went on promising a duel with him later.

"Hello boys, how are you doing today?" Botan chuckled.

"What are you two doing here?" Yusuke asked.

"Who cares! Yukina my darling, I will win as long as you're with me." Kuwabara said holding her hands in his and Yukina laughed awkwardly. Botan knocked him over the head with her oar.

"Kuwabara you have no shame. And to answer your question, we came here to keep you know who updated on the tournament, He couldn't come unfortunately. He's getting ready an army in case worse comes to worse. He'll be here eventually though." Botan explained. "Make sure you tell the others, come on Yukina, let's find us some seats." They went away while Kuwabara complained about not spending time with his love.

"What are you spouting out you buffoon? Is it really impossible for you not to look like an idiot?" Hiei said with Shuichi by his side.

"What'd you say short stuff!? I thought you'd understand, you being with Mukuro and everything." Kuwabara smirked.

"I don't need to act like an idiot for her to know how I feel." Hiei said. Kuwabara growled at him.

"Now, now let's settle down. We aren't here to fight each other, we're here to fight the Generals." Shuichi said, trying to calm down Hiei and Kuwabara.

"Hey Kurama, where's Naota? I thought she'd be with you." Yusuke said. He noticed a change in Shuichi's eyes when he mentioned her but decided to ask about that later.

"She went to look for Yasu. She hasn't seen him in a year, it's understandable." Shuichi said, folding his arms in front of him.

"But won't that look suspicious?" Kuwabara asked. "I mean he's with the revolutionaries."

"They'll be fine, Yasu won't let anything happen to her. Besides, if anyone really did see them together, it might also mean that she might be on his side, more of an advantage for them." Shuichi reasoned. They heard taps on a microphone and they all looked towards the platform.

"Hello, as you know I am the previous winner of the Demon Tournament Enki. I welcome all the newcomers and also the second timers to the second Tournament. We have many fighters again this year and will be dividing into the same structure as last year's tournament. The boxes with the numbers are ready and are at the foot of the platform. All I ask is to have a fair battles with everyone and have fun everybody." Enki steps off the platform as everyone starts to line up to get their number. Yusuke felt somebody push into him as he started to get into his line.

"Hey!" He started until he met with a familiar pair of golden eyes. "Naota! We were wondering if you were coming or not." He chuckled, noticing her shorter hair up in a small ponytail.

"I was here for a while, I was just talking to Yasu. Could you blame me? I haven't seen him in a year, I missed his smug face." Naota said, getting behind him.

"So have you gotten stronger?" Yusuke asked.

"You'll have to see that for yourself. Have you seen any of the generals yet?" Naota asked.

"Not really, they haven't shown themselves yet, but once we start fighting, they're not gonna just sit back. This is good too. Time to see what they're made off." Yusuke said, a slight glimmer of excitement in his eyes.

"We have to be careful. We don't know what their leader looks like. He's not gonna sit out this tournament with all of us in it." Naota reasoned.

"Yea." Yusuke said, finally getting his number. After the lotto, the board with their respective number and platform came up. They all gathered together and shared their numbers.

"Looks like we got lucky, none of us got paired up." Kuwabara said.

"With all the fighters this year, it would have been very unlikely that we would have been in the same platform." Shuichi said.

"Did anyone one of us get the generals?" Naota asked.

"Nope, lucky us." Yusuke deadpanned.

"Well now, if it isn't the detectives in the flesh." Inugami said, approaching the group. Everyone tensed up. "Woah, woah, settle down people. I'm not here to fight. I need to see what I'm gonna go up against you know?" He smirked, an elongated fang peering out.

"Checking out the competition already?" Yusuke said.

"You can say that, but I didn't think that I'd be fighting a beauty." Inugami said, floating in front of Naota's face.

"What?!" Naota said a slight blush appearing on her face.

"You heard me, say why don't you and I go and have a little fun before the fighting starts?" Inugami winked suggestively.

"I'm not that kind of girl." Naota said, looking away.

"Aww, don't be like that." Inugami said, about to wrap his arm around her before Shuichi caught his hand. Shuichi glared at him hard, a slight gold appearing in his eyes. Inugami smirked and his eyes narrowed. "Didn't think you had a boyfriend."

"Boyfriend or not, you need to get out of here." Naota said.

"Fine." Inugami said, taking his hand back. "I'll see you on the battlefield beauty." Inugami smirked as he left. As he came closer to his group, he stopped and looked at his wrist, the imprint of Shuichi's hand still there. 'Anymore and he would've cut off my blood, interesting.'

"Man that guy was such a creep." Kuwabara said. "You ok Naota?" She turned to him and he found that her face was actually deep red. "Woah, you didn't get a fever did you?" Kuwabara asked.

"N-no, it's not, I don't have a fever." Naota said before hearing a deep laugh. Yasu approached their group.

"Look who decided to join us." Yusuke said.

"Actually I've been watching you for a long time now." Yasu said, a laugh playing in his eyes.

"You mean, you saw-" Naota started.

"How Inugami flirted with you? Of course." Yasu said, laughing. Naota grew a deeper red while Yusuke and Kuwabara shared confused looks. "If you two are wondering, I believe that's the first time she's been seriously hit on."

"What?" Kuwabara and Yusuke said. Naota tried hiding her face and trying to glare at Yasu, which failed. Yusuke and Kuwabara started to tease her as she tried to hit them unsuccessfully. Shuichi watched with steel cold eyes.

"Kurama, keep your anger in check." Hiei said. "Save it for the fights." Shuichi nodded.

00000

"Well here we are in the second Demon Tournament! I'm your cute host Koto! Now let's see how are fighters are doing shall we?" A fox girl said. Yusuke watched the fights drinking some water. His fight already ended and he's going into the semi finals. Kuwabara and Naota are both still fighting, while Hiei left. Shuichi is standing next to him, a cold aura around him.

"Ah, nothing like some fresh water. So Kurama, what's with you?" Yusuke said.

"What do you mean Yusuke?" Shuichi said, focusing on Naota's fight.

"Well why do you look like you're gonna kill someone?" Yusuke asked. "Every time you look at Naota you get this sad look in your eye. Then you get angry, and then your eyes just look empty."

"I never knew you to be observant." Shuichi said.

"Well isn't this a surprise! The humans are holding their own, let's go to Naota's fight shall we?" Koto said. The screens all focus on her fight. "Look at her go! Taking down 5, no 6 demons at once! What's this stance?" Koto said as Naota's whole right arm starts glowing with spirit energy. She kicks her feet and starts spinning and then releases her energy, making a tornado, infused with her energy, taking out groups of demons. "Wow! That's an amazing attack! She took out half of the group already!"

"Woah, nice attack." Yusuke commented.

"It took her a while to control her energy like that." Shuichi said.

"So are you gonna tell me what happened between you and her?" Yusuke said. Shuichi remained quiet. "Did she dump you?"

"No. No she didn't." Shuichi said.

"Then?" Yusuke said. Shuichi sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I rejected her." Shuichi finally said.

"Wha-!"

"It looks like the two humans are going into the second preliminaries! Give them a round of applause! Now let's keep going with the other fights!"

"So you finally did it huh?" Yusuke said. "Well, I guess that's your choice, but can you stop looking like you'll die inside? It was your choice, do you regret it?" Shuichi clenched his fist and Yusuke was surprised at how cold his eyes looked.

"No." Shuichi said before leaving. Yusuke finished his water and threw it in a nearby garbage can. He started to walk around the grounds before looking out towards demon world. He's wondering on how he can help Shuichi when he felt someone stand next to him. He looked beside him. A man with long silver hair in a pony tail and golden eyes looked lazily toward the screen.

'When did he get here?' Yusuke thought. He was wearing a black military uniform with a turtle neck and a small sword at his side. He looked over to Yusuke and he found his eyes changing from blue to golden again.

"You must be Yusuke Urameshi." The stranger said.

"Yea? What about it?" Yusuke said. He smiled kindly at him and bowed deeply at him, surprising Yusuke.

"My name is Kiyoshi, it's very nice to make your acquaintance. Hopefully we won't meet in the battlefield." He said and walked away with his arms at his back. Yusuke scoffed.

'Freak.' Yusuke thought. As Kiyoshi walked away he was approached by Tanya to look up at the board. The semi finals will begin in two days.

"Tanya, make sure everyone makes it to the third round. You know who to pair up with who. I will be counting on you." Kiyoshi said.

"Yes leader." Tanya said before going to do her orders. He stares at his gloved hands and he clenches then with a smile on his face.

'Soon, it will be over soon.'

00000

Naota looked at the board for the next fights. The prelims came and went. Everyone passed, with a few bruises and cuts on her side but at least everyone is ready for the next battles. She was surprised though, she would never thought that they would meet the generals in the official first round. Hiei verses Tanya would land when she would fight Satoru and also Shuichi's fight would be at the same time. Kuwabara would fight Yuu first and then Yusuke would fight Inugami.

Naota looked at the name of Shuichi's opponent. Kiyoshi, someone she didn't know. 'We have to be careful on who we fight, this Kiyoshi could be part of the Revolutionaries.'

"Looking at who you might be up against Sheila?" A voice said behind her. Naota smiled big before hugging at Chu, who she hasn't seen in a couple of months.

"Chu! How have you been? I've been worried about you ever since you just disappeared." Naota said.

"Sorry about that, had a couple of things to take care of down here." Chu said.

"Like what?" Naota asked.

"Trying to find my group. I can't find them anywhere though, I've been hearing rumors about how they won't allow some demons to fight, I think they pulled all of them out of the tournament, even my girl. I've been trying to get in touch with them ever since I left you, but its hard." Chu said.

"How about I ask Yasu where they are? He is part of the revolutionaries after all." Naota said.

"Doesn't matter beauty." Inugami said appearing near them.

"You!" Naota exclaimed. "Wait, what do you mean it doesn't matter?"

"Those who had talent were separated from the regular troops." Inugami said. "This tournament is just a diversion. Most of our troops are fighting yes but they are only here to take care of the ones who aren't rallied with us. Once we win the demon tournament all hell will break lose. Once that happens we'll need those with power to keep all of you in line."

"And so why the hell did you tell us this?" Naota asked.

"Well as you see, we're already going to be fighting against all of you in the upcoming rounds. Trust me beauty, we'll be the ones on the winning side. It's really best for you to just surrender if you know what's good for you." Inugami said.

"You're just a dumb bloke. Urameshi and them aren't gonna lose to you guys. You're just blowing hot air up your ass thinking you can beat them so easily." Chu retorted. Inugami just scoffed.

"Think what you will. By the way your girl says hi, she's one juicy piece you know. I might actually love to sink my teeth into her." Inugami said. Chu's demeanor changed along with his energy spiking. Inugami's energy also spiked before Naota went and kicked him where it hurts. Inugami gave out a little squeak before collapsing on the floor.

"Huh, works with all guys even demons huh? Let's go Chu, he's just trying to get under our skin. You'll get to see Natsume soon, I promise." Naota said, dragging Chu away before he does something he would regret. After they left Inugami looked at the board before Kiyoshi came up behind him.

"How goes the energy harvest leader?" Inugami said, not looking back. Kiyoshi laughed. It annoyed Inugami from the way it sounded like chimes.

"I was afraid you would tell them the true reason why we withheld our strongest fighters. Still that little white lie might make them distressed enough that they might lose." Kiyoshi said.

"'Might lose?' Leader do you doubt my strength?" Inugami said glaring at him. Kiyoshi stared straight into him, unflinching. Inugami always found himself stripped down to his core, as if those eyes penetrate his soul. He looked away.

"Whether you lose or win, it does not matter. Remember that you all are replaceable." Kiyoshi said. "But if you do lose, remember that I will grant your wish. Urameshi isn't one to grant wishes such as yours." Inugami clenched his fist and sighed clenching his chest, a look of pain crossing his face.

'Win or lose huh?'

* * *

_Kuwabara vs Yuu in the first round! The strategist vs the reckless! Who will win? What is this wish Inugami is thinking about? What is this energy harvest that they mentioned? Who is this strange Kiyoshi? Find out all of this and more on the next chapter of Someone I can love!_


	10. Chapter 10

_First of all HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I don't want to offend anyone by saying Merry Xmas xD_

_Anyway, second, I would like to say sorry any grammatical errors in the fight! I find it very hard to try to keep past tense when i'm writing fighting scenes. Present tense really flows with fights so i'm sorry if that really annoys or bothers everyone, i try to go through every chapter to make sure it sounds right but i'm only one person :(_

_Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and please review!_

* * *

Kuwabara looked down the field. Yuu stood in front of him, his long flowing robes slightly moving as he circled Kuwabara. His fan of feathers hiding his face partly. Kuwabara felt his body tense up, remembering the advice Naota told him before his fight.

"Remember from our mission Kuwabara that Yuu is a master of illusion, all he needs is a catalyst. Don't give him the opportunity to mess with your head, just try to finish this as fast as you can. If you think you're in an illusion, use your dimensional sword, that will break it."

As they stare each other down, in the tournament grounds, the Urameshi group watched on. Everyone on the tip of their toes, except for Shuichi and Hiei who are watching on calmly.

"Do you think he might lose Yusuke?" Naota asked.

"Well this guy was already beaten by Kuwabara, so I don't think we should worry too much." Yusuke said, calming down. Naota didn't look reassured.

"Do not worry Naota, Yuu has one fatal weakness." Yasu said, coming behind the group.

"And which is that?" Shuichi spat out.

"His ego."

Back on the battle grounds Kuwabara is getting irritated. He couldn't find a way to break Yuu's defenses. He must be careful on his attacks, any one of them Yuu can use to make his illusion. 'I can't take any risks. I gotta defeat him, but how?'

"Is this how the battle will play out? Us circling each other like wild animals? Why don't we just sit down and talk like gentlemen?" Yuu said, dropping his fan and pointing Kuwabara to some flat rocks off in the distance.

"No way, I'm not letting you get into my head. You're gonna play a trick on me!" Kuwabara said.

"What's the point on using my illusions on you if you can just break them? Do you really think I'd waste my precious energy on a tactic that I know won't work? No I'm smarter than that." Yuu said. "But this waiting has gone on long enough. You and your group will interfere with the leader's plan. I cannot allow you to interfere." Yuu said. He grabbed his hand around his fan and it started to drip blood onto the ground.

'What the hell is this guy doing? He just cut himself!' Kuwabara said, tensing up for an attack. Yuu held up his fan above the ground that held his blood. His fan glowed with different energies. A wave of energy shot from his fan to the ground.

"Arise Vanity." The ground started to mold itself upward until a silhouette of a person came forth. The person took one step and the earth surrounding him fell revealing his body. He dusted off his yellow trench coat with his gloved hands and readjusted his red visors, his blond hair hugging his face. Kuwabara summoned his dimensional sword and charged. Vanity grabbed Yuu and evaded his attack.

"I thought you said you weren't gonna use your illusion!" Kuwabara shouted.

"I didn't. This is Vanity. A part of me personified, my pride, my vanity, my strongest warrior. As long as there is earth, all I need to do is offer my blood and energy to call him forth. Now Vanity, defeat this sad excuse for a human and let us be on our way." Yuu said. Vanity smirked and nodded, charging at Kuwabara. He flicked his wrists and out came long needles. He threw them at Kuwabara but he evaded them easily.

"Huh, is that all you got!" Kuwabara taunted him. Vanity chuckled.

"You remind me of a girl I once fought. I didn't fight her at pull power and she defeated me, but now I see I don't have to hold back." Vanity took off his gloves and coat, leaving him with his turtle neck. Energy traveled down to his hands and from the center of his palms, long sharp spikes appeared.

"Eww! How the hell do you have those in your body?" Kuwabara said, disgusted. Vanity charged at him using the spikes he summoned as double swords. Kuwabara kept dodging, trying to do attacks here and there but Vanity was too agile. Suddenly Kuwabara felt his back exploded. He staggered forward. Behind him was Yuu, holding his fan horizontally. Yuu has just shot a blast of energy at Kuwabara, allowing Vanity to come in and attack Kuwabara. He suffered many cuts, but with his intuition he was able to avoid any major wounds. He retreated into the forest, trying to gain some cover between him and Yuu.

Yusuke gritted his teeth, watching Kuwabara trying to flee from Yuu. Naota held her hands in front of herself, not being able to tear her eyes away from the fighting.

"Damn it, Kuwabara." Yusuke muttered underneath his breath, not being able to stop worrying for his friend. "Hey! Why didn't you tell us any of this!" Yusuke yelled at Yasu.

"Out of all the generals, only Yuu and the leader kept their fighting prowess to themselves. I only knew of his illusions, but nothing more." Yasu said.

"What's the use of you gathering information when you can't bring us something that'll help us." Yusuke said, clenching his fists. Yasu said nothing and instead looked to the screen.

Kuwabara leaned against a tree, panting hard, trying to figure out a strategy to defeat Yuu. 'I can't even get close to the damn guy because of Vanity.' Kuwabara got up and he heard something. Looking back he sees needles where he once sat. He looked around, his senses heightened. More needles come from the canopy and Kuwabara cursed, trying to avoid them. Vanity looked at his prey and chuckled to himself.

Kuwabara ran through the forest, trying to do his best to avoid the needles but some managed to find him, but none hit any fatal points. As he ran he stumbles and rolled down a ravine, suffering scrapes and bruises. His once white uniform was torn from the various needles and ruined by dirt and grime, he felt his energy starting to wane from the exertion to try to escape.

'I can't keep doing this. I have to find the damn guy.' Kuwabara said. He walked with a slight limp, his ankle sprained from the fall. He saw something in the corner of his eye and barely avoided another blast but in avoiding it, he falls off a cliff into a clearing. He struggled to get up and found himself in front of Vanity.

"You know," Vanity started as he crouched down to Kuwabara's level, "You can't run for an eternity. I will kill you, but I am not one to kill someone who can't fight back. So I'll just wait here until you can get up." Vanity said, sitting down on a rock nearby. Kuwabara started to laugh causing Vanity to frown.

"You really think you're gonna win?" Kuwabara taunted. Vanity frowns. "Sorry blondie, but I'm winning this fight! Spirit sword get long!" Vanity stands but it's too late. His spirit sword comes from underground and pierces him through his heart. Blood comes from his mouth and he smiles.

"Good job." Vanity said before disappearing into mud. Yuu, who was taking shelter in a nearby tree, fell to the ground, holding his chest and taking short shallow breaths. Kuwabara shook as he tried to stand.

"Heh, what do you think of that you robed freak?" Kuwabara said.

"You little foolish worm! How dare you defeat my Vanity! I will kill you!" Yuu said, raising his fan and coating it with his energy, and charged at Kuwabara. He also summoned his spirit sword and they both go at it with their weapons. Yuu and Kuwabara seemed evenly matched, his summoning of Vanity taking a toll on his energy. Kuwabara tried to go for a finishing blow but Yuu evaded. He summoned another orb of energy and flung it towards Kuwabara, but that was a mistake.

"Batter up!" Kuwabara said, grabbing his sword like a bat and sending the orb back at Yuu. It hit him square in the chest, flinging him towards a tree. He hit the tree with enough force to crack the trunk. He crumpled to the floor, his face in a grimace as he was knocked out.

"And it's outta here!" Kuwabara shouted, giving the announcer who was recording the fight a thumbs up. She started the count of ten and Kuwabara felt good taking down an enemy supposedly stronger than him. Yuu opened his eyes just as he heard the ten, he lost. Kuwabara was laughing like an idiot, preparing to go back using the announcers platform.

'No! I can't lose here!' Yuu thought. He retrieved a small dagger from the inside of his robe and launched himself at Kuwabara. The female announcer shrieked. Kuwabara looked behind him and Yuu was slashed behind his back by Kiyoshi.

"Who the hell are you?" Kuwabara said, taken back from the sudden appearance of this man. 'This isn't good. Who is this guy? If he picks a fight with me I'm a goner!'

"Do not worry, I am not your enemy, for now." He stood in front of the camera and took the microphone from the girl. At the stadium, all the screens show his face.

"It's that one guy!" Yusuke shouted.

"Hello all fighters. My name is Kiyoshi. There are many who take my orders but have never seen my face. Today I introduce myself to all of you. I am Kiyoshi and I am the leader of the Revolutionaries." Kiyoshi stated. Many demons started talking amongst themselves.

"You know him Yusuke?" Shuichi asked.

"Yea I bumped into him earlier. I couldn't really sense him so I didn't know if he was weak or not." Yusuke explained. All of them stared at the screen. Naota couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity with this demon, as if she knew him. 'Where would I know him from?' Naota thought.

Kiyoshi tossed the microphone back to the announcer. He took his small sword and flicked off some of the blood from it. He glared at the body of Yuu.

"How can you do that to your friend!" Kuwabara shouted at him.

"Friend? He was an expendable ally. He failed to kill you, so I killed him. I do not tolerate failures in my army. If you'll excuse me, I have more business to attend to." Kiyoshi said. Kuwabara gathered the rest of his energy and made a last ditch effort to try to cut down Kiyoshi. He sidestepped and kneed him in the gut. Kuwabara fell to the ground, unconscious and Kiyoshi left

00000

Kuwabara woke up with a start. He found himself in a simple bed, his wounds all bandaged up.

"About time you woke up!" Yusuke said, sitting in a chair with Shuichi behind him. Yukina by his side.

"Guys...hey wait! What happened? Where's that one guy Kiyoshi? How'd I get here?" Kuwabara rambled.

"Geez, one question at a time! You don't remember?" Yusuke said.

"I remember that Kiyoshi guy. I tried fighting him and the next thing I know, I'm right here." Kuwabara answered.

"Sounds about right. Kiyoshi delivered a swift kick to your abdomen, knocking you unconscious We brought you here and Yukina has been tending to your wounds. You have been asleep for nearly 24 hours." Shuichi explained.

"A day! That means-"

"Yep, I'm up next in like an hour or so." Yusuke said.

"I gotta get up and-" Kuwabara started before holding his abdomen in pain.

"Please Kazuma, you still need rest. I'm not done healing you yet." Yukina said, lightly touching his arm.

"Don't worry Yukina, I'll be fine. You've done enough, you need your rest too." Kuwabara said, laying his hand over hers. She blushed slightly and Yusuke and Shuichi took that as their cue to leave. Yusuke stretched, getting all the kinks out of his muscles before the big fight, and started walking towards the stadium.

"So, now we know what he looks like." Yusuke commented.

"Indeed." Shuichi said.

"What do you think we should do now?" Yusuke asked.

"That I am not sure. Now that he has announced himself, there is no doubt he won't be showing himself any time soon." Shuichi said.

"You're going against him. You sure you'll be ok?" Yusuke asked. Shuichi chuckled.

"Don't worry Yusuke. I won't let myself die just yet." As they reached the stadium, they see Naota in front of them. She seemed to be deep in thought and shrieked when Yusuke patted her on the back.

"Geez, you trying to give me a heart attack?" Naota asked.

"Didn't know you'd be so focused, what are you thinking about?" Yusuke asked. Naota looked toward the screen, the fighting still going on.

"Kiyoshi, call me crazy but for some reason he seemed very familiar to me, like I know him." Naota said.

"But this was your first time seeing him right? How can you know him?" Yusuke wondered.

"I don't know, but I can't shake the feeling that I know him from somewhere. It's hard to explain really." Naota said. "Are you nervous about your fight?"

"Not really. I'll just have to work some of my magic and kick his ass." Yusuke said with confidence.

"Although your confidence is reassuring, you should be careful Yusuke." Shuichi said.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Anyways, I gotta go. It's about to start." Yusuke said, walking over to where the transporters where. Naota sighed, the feeling of knowing Kiyoshi from somewhere bothering her. An awkward silence continued between Shuichi and Naota.

"Um, are you worried? About fighting Kiyoshi?" Naota said.

"No." Shuichi said. Naota scowled, she didn't want things to be awkward between her and Shuichi.

"Shuichi, I think it's been a tough year between us. I have your answer and it was no, but even then I don't want our relationship to be like this. Even if you won't reciprocate my feelings, I still want to be your friend. Can we at least still have that?" Naota said. Shuichi smiled faintly.

"Of course." Shuichi said.

Naota smiled to herself, feeling a load of her shoulders but her heart still hurt knowing that nothing between them will ever come to fruition. She looked up at the monitors getting ready for Yusuke's fight before she sees Kiyoshi in the corner of her eye. She walked towards where he was but he wasn't there. She sees him again, walking in a crowd and decided to follow him. Every time she catches his figure in the corner of her eye he seemed to always move by the time she gets there.

By the time Naota stopped following him, Naota noticed that she's all alone outside the stadium. She sighed and crossed her arms, feeling she was sent on a wild goose chase. As she goes back in she sees Chu in the distance, carrying a woman with brown wild hair, and behind him was everyone that has disappeared.

"Chu!" Naota shouted as she goes up to him.

"Hey little Sheila..." Chu said weakly. His clothes had many burn marks around them. Everyone that was following him was in the same condition, their faces sullen and their bodies small as if they were being starved. "Just call for someone, everyone here needs help." Chu said before finally fainting. Naota ran off into the stadium, going for help, not noticing Kiyoshi hiding out behind a tree.

* * *

_The second battle is getting underway between Yusuke and Inugami, who will win? And how did Chu find all of the missing demons? What is the reason why they were missing? And is this the end of Naota and Shuichi's chances of ever being together? Why does Kiyoshi help Naota find Chu? And is it me or is this a lot of questions for the next chapter? Find all this and more in the next installment of Someone I can love!_


	11. Chapter 11

_I had a lot of fun writing this chapter :3 just to let you guys know Inugami is not my character, I had permission to borrow him and this story is not the last you'll see him in, also Vanity who I really like as well. I hope you guys like this chapter!_

* * *

Chu laid in a bed with various persons in the other beds. Naota went to get Shuichi and, with a few help from other demons, they were able to get everyone into the infirmary. Naota sat by Chu's side looking at the rest of the demons that came with him. She recognized Touya and Shishi who went missing during the last months of her training, trying to find the missing demons. One had bushy red hair with a horn on his forehead, another with spiky brown hair and a couple of stars underneath his eye. The woman she previously saw being carried by Chu and a blond haired guy.

"Shuichi, is this everyone that has been missing?" Naota asked. He had been looking them over one by one, trying to see their condition.

"Everyone that we know, there are still several more demons that have been missing. Unfortunately everyone is very weak and won't wake up for a while. We can only wait until they wake before we know what happened to them. In the meantime, why don't you go to the screens outside to watch Yusuke's fight? I'll stay here and monitor their health." Shuichi said.

"That won't be necessary Kurama." Hiei said, suddenly appearing in the room.

"What do you mean Hiei?" Shuichi asked.

"I'll look through their memories with my Jagan eye. Whatever happened, it probably has to do with those revolutionaries. The more information we have, the greater chance we have on taking these guys down." Hiei explained.

"Well Hiei, you are never one to give a helping hand, why now?" Shuichi asked.

"These revolutionaries have been bothering Mukuro and have attempted to take her life. I won't lie Kurama, I want these demons dead. I'm just disappointed that not all of them will taste my blade." Hiei said. Naota sweat dropped.

'How is Shuichi friends with this guy?' Naota thought. Hiei approached Chu's bedside.

"Get out of the way detective." Hiei said. Naota got up, going over to Shuichi while Hiei took off his headband and revealed his Jagan eye.

"Shuichi, I'm gonna go and watch Yusuke's fight. Tell me what happened to Chu and the others once Hiei is done." Naota said and walked out. Shuichi looked at the closed door for a second before looking towards Hiei. To his surprise, Hiei was staring at him.

"If you keep looking at her with those eyes of regret then I suggest taking back your answer." Hiei said.

"Not you too Hiei." Shuichi sighed and face palmed.

"Yusuke told me what happened. I told myself I wouldn't get involved but the looks you give to her is making me sick." Hiei said. "You're like a beaten dog who isn't willing to get up."

"I have made my decision Hiei. It's for the best. She's a human and won't live like I. She will eventually pass while I age slowly. This is the way it has to be." Hiei scoffed at Shuichi's explanation.

"Sounds like excuses to me. What is your real reason Kurama?" Hiei asked.

"Why are we even talking about this Hiei? You are not one to involve yourself in my personal affairs." Shuichi said.

"Like I said, those looks you give to her annoys me. If you had cleanly rejected her, you would've given up those emotions pertaining to her as well, but here you are killing yourself over what could have been." Hiei said.

"You are not one to give advice as well Hiei." Shuichi said. Hiei chuckled.

"Maybe my time with Mukuro has made me soft to those kinds of feelings and besides, I don't like the look of defeat across your face. It makes you look unsightly. Now stop avoiding my question and tell me the real reason you made your decision." Hiei said.

"It's fear of course, what else is there to it?" Chu said. They both looked and Chu had sat up in his bed.

"You're awake." Shuichi said.

"Well of course I'm awake! You two bloaks are hollering up in here, can't give a guy like me some shut-eye." Chu said.

"Well then, now that your awake I won't have to use my Jagan eye." Hiei said, wrapping up his headband.

"Chu what happened? Naota told me how she found you outside the stadium with everyone." Shuichi asked.

"Well, I decided to look into our missing friends here. Something about that Inugami fellow made me suspicious, so I decided to follow him around a bit. He came up to this building out in one of the many forested areas. I went inside and everyone was hooked up to these pods of some kind. There were screens next to them and everyone was dreaming of fighting, using their demon energy little by little. I saw this white haired guy on a platform where every single one of the pods was connected to. All of their energy was being concentrated on this small orb.

I heard him mutter something too. 'I will see you soon. You will arise again. I now have the power to grant your wish.' Then everything started shaking and breaking. I did my best to break open the pods and wake everyone. A fire broke out and we barely managed to get ourselves out of that crumbling building. I don't know how I did or everyone else for that matter, but we eventually ended up here. That's all I remember anyway."

"You must have seen Kiyoshi but why was he gathering energy?" Shuichi wondered out loud.

"Don't know, but that was a lot of damn energy. If you're gonna go up against him, you gotta be careful Kurama. If he uses that against ya, you won't be walking away alive." Chu said.

"Great, another thing to worry about." Hiei said sarcastically.

00000

Naota leaned against the railing, looking at the screen at Yusuke's and Inugami's fight. They haven't started yet. Naota sighed, wondering what was Yasu doing. 'Now that I notice it, Yasu hasn't been really around. He lost his prelims which surprised me. I thought he was gonna win, considering he's still stronger than me. I wonder where is he.' She thought.

"A fight you've all been waiting for has begun! Yusuke Urameshi vs Inugami!" Koto shouted through her microphone.

Yusuke stared down Inugami. Their stances tense for the upcoming battle until Inugami stretched and yawn.

"If you're that tired, you can just forfeit and give me the win you know." Yusuke said.

"Heh, sorry, I'm not one to run away from a good fight. I gotta tell you one thing though. I'm not here as a general but as myself. I want a good straight fight, none of this 'I gotta saved the world' bullshit from you, and none of 'He's the ex spirit detective so I gotta kill him' from me." Inugami said.

"Really?" Yusuke asked.

"Yea, the only reason I joined those uptight losers was because I was given an opportunity to fight. I love having a good brawl, who doesn't? Having the feeling of power over your opponent as you two are going at it with all your energy, it's almost like a high. Unfortunately no one is good enough for me. Everyone is so weak, that's why I'm happy that i'm going against you Yusuke. Considering you gave Yomi a good run for his money last time gives me hope that you'll give me what I want. You'll grant my wish right? Give me a fight, a fight to the death." Inugami explained. "That's the only end I would want. I wanna go down fighting."

"Well then since you're so eager, I might as well give it to you!" Yusuke said, rushing his opponent. Inugami smiled with pleasure. Yusuke sent a barrage of jabs at Inugami. He evaded most of them and swiped away and at few that got close to connecting. He grabbed on to Yusuke's wrists and, using his own momentum, threw him against a cliff. His clawed hands glowed as he rushed towards Yusuke.

"Wolf's claw!" Yusuke barely manage to get out off the way before four long claw marks appeared on the cliff where he was before.

"You're pretty agile, but you need more than speed to get away from me!" Inugami shouted.

"Yea? And you're gonna need more than pretty shiny nails to defeat me!" Yusuke retorted.

"You little bastard." Inugami laughed out loud, trying to catch him in his claws. Wolf's claw after wolf's claw, Yusuke kept avoiding while the surrounding shrubbery kept being destroyed. Yusuke fled into the forested part of the field platform, trying to buy some time to defeat him. Inugami stood in front of the trees and smirked. "You think the forest will protect you? Think again." He focused his demon energy within him, making his fangs slightly longer and his claws grew until they were miniature swords. He used his keen sense of smell to locate where Yusuke was.

He was trying to calm himself down, he knew where Inugami was and he started focusing his energy in his finger until Inugami finally found him.

"Gotcha!" Inugami bit down where Yusuke was. Inugami rushed Yusuke with his claws and teeth. He was aiming for his neck like a savage beast. Yusuke barely avoided them, getting a few cuts on his clothes and a few close shaves on his hair. Before he knew it, he was against a tree. Inugami rushed him and Yusuke dove for the ground. Inugami found himself biting a tree. Yusuke laughed.

"Trying to get your fiber there wolf boy?" Yusuke taunted until he heard the wood start to creak. Inugami promptly chomped off half of the trunk and crushed it between his jaws, spitting out the remains.

"My teeth are imbued with energy, biting off a chunk of that tree is nothing. So how about you stay still so I can rip your throat out!" Inugami said, rushing at him again, trying to bite him to no avail. Finally Yusuke found an opening and slipped out of Inugami's range. He found himself right behind him and fired off one of his spirit guns. Inugami's legs spread out, he stretched out both of his arms, focusing his energy. He crossed them in and X then, uncrossing them, he opens his mouth and launches his attack.

"Savage maw!" A giant wolf's head projected from his mouth , in a swift motion the energy wolf swallowed the spirit gun, before disappearing in a blast of energy, knocking back Yusuke.

"What the hell?" Yusuke wondered. Inugami wasn't there, Yusuke looked around until he was smacked hard with Inugami's tail.

"Tail lash!" The force flung Yusuke through several trees and made him skid on the ground before finally stopping in a field. Yusuke sat up and wiped the blood from his mouth and spat some out. 'Damn it, this guy is good. Heh.' Yusuke thought. He heard a howl coming from the forest and saw an energy shot coming towards him. He evaded and the shot cut down a part of the mountain behind him.

"Holy crap, I better not get caught in that." Yusuke thought out loud before he heard numerous howls coming towards him. More energy shots followed the howls and he evaded all of them. "Hey! That attack isn't that useful if I can hear it coming from a frigging mile away you know!" Yusuke shouted.

"You're right, I just like playing with my prey!" Inugami said, above Yusuke. "Tail bash!" As he rushed downwards to Yusuke, he shot off another spirit gun. Unable to avoid it in the air, Inugami tried using his wolf's claw to lessen the damage. He split it but it exploded him out of the air.

"About time I get a hit in." Yusuke said, panting. Inugami shook from trying to stand, various bruises appearing on his person. He gave out a boisterous laugh. "What the hell is wrong with you? You think this is some sort of game?" He kept laughing until those laughs became hacks and coughs. Finally he brought his hand to his mouth, trying to stop the coughs. "Hey, you ok there? Don't tell me you're dying already we only just got started."

"Heh, you have a smart mouth ex detective. To tell you the truth, I am dying. I caught a disease in my lungs. I don't have much time. I only tagged along with the revolutionaries so I can find someone strong enough to kill me, but no matter how much I fought, no one was able to put a dent into me. Not until I met you. This is the most fun I've had in years. I really wish I didn't have to die." Inugami explained.

"Then don't. You got a disease? We got a healer back at the stadium, maybe she can take a look at you." Yusuke said.

"Heh, if she can heal a man near death, then maybe I should give that a shot, but before that, you have to defeat me. If you can ex spirit detective." Inugami said, wiping the blood from his mouth.

" Heh, I'll have you begging for mercy, just you wait!" Yusuke rushed him. They were both trying to beat each other down, Yusuke with his punches filled with energy and Inugami with his wolf's claw and tail lashes. Inugami finally had Yusuke in the corner. He gave out a battle cry and forced energy to come out of his body. The energy that came out formed into energy wolves with flaming manes.

"Go! Wolf pack carnage!" Inugami shouted. All the wolves charged at Yusuke.

"What's with all the wolves?! I can never get a freaking break!" Yusuke said as he tried to outrun the attack. They surrounded him little by little and a few tried going for the final blow but Yusuke was able to avoid them, until he hit a dead end. The wolves gave him one final stare before going for it. 'Hope this works.' He focused his energy into his fist and let it out.

"Shotgun!" A barrage of energy shot at all the wolves, three manage to get past them. One bit down on his left shoulder, the other bit down on his right forearm and the last got his left calve. Finally finding their target, they disappeared. Inugami appeared before him, panting greatly.

"You don't die easily do you?" Inugami asked.

"Sorry, I already died 2 times, not going for a third." Yusuke said. "Let's settle this already, both of us looks like we're gonna kick the bucket, I give you my best shot, but you give me yours."

"Fine by me, don't come haunting me because I killed you." Inugami said, taking off his ruined shirt, revealing a tattoo of kanji symbols in the shape of a wolf.

"Likewise." Yusuke said, getting his spirit gun ready. Inugami started to concentrate his energy in his chest. The tattoo started to move and glow, at the same time Yusuke's finger shined greatly. Three dog heads started to show out of Inugami's chest and so he released it.

"Roar of the Demon Dog Cerberus!" His energy evolved into Cerberus, the legendary three headed dog of hell. The energy turned black and flaming, it grew massive and started to devour the surrounding foliage. It turned its eyes towards Yusuke and charged and so Yusuke released his massive Spirit Gun. The three dogs started to devour the spirit gun, fighting over it and destroyed more of the platform. Yusuke got out of its way while it started to destroy the fighting area. Eventually the platform cracked and started to fall. Inugami saw that they only had a little place to stand on and sucked the demon dog back into his chest. Dust flew all over from the massive attack.

Drained from his last spirit gun attack, Yusuke coughed from all the dust in the air. A wind picked up and was able to see a bit better. He saw Inugami's figure in the distance and cursed. 'Damn, what does it take to beat this guy?' Yusuke thought. He tried walking towards him but found himself straining to take one step.

"Alright Inugami, you got one more shot? I think I can still beat you with my fists!" Yusuke said. He didn't move, Yusuke got closer. "Hey are you deaf? Huh?" Inugami finally came in his line of vision but he wasn't moving, his eyes were closed and he was snoring. "You've got to be kidding me." Yusuke poked at his faced and he fell on his back. He took a bit long snore and Yusuke finally realized he was sleeping. He couldn't take it anymore, Yusuke fell on his butt and started to laugh. He couldn't realize what had happened. 'Guess this means I won.'

Back on the stadium, Naota and Kuwabara cheered as they saw Yusuke was the last guy standing.

"Man that was an awesome fight, I was on my toes the whole time!" Kuwabara said, holding his rib from his last fight. Even though Yukina has already healed it, it still was sore.

"Yea, Inugami gave Yusuke a run for his money. That demon dog was one hell of an attack. I was afraid Yusuke might've been a goner." Naota said.

"Yea right, Urameshi is too strong for that. Hey, look Inugami is getting up!" Kuwabara said.

Inugami sat up, and looked at the destroyed platform. Yusuke walked up to him and offered him his hand.

"You look like a mess." Yusuke said.

"You don't look that good as well." He took his hand and Yusuke slung it over his shoulder.

"Alright, it's about time for you to stop thinking about dying. Let's see if we can get you healed." Yusuke said.

"I can't let you do that Yusuke." Suddenly Kiyoshi appeared before the two of them.

"Get out of the way." Yusuke said.

"He cannot be saved. It's best to put him out of his misery now." Kiyoshi said.

"What the hell are you saying! I've got one of the best healers waiting for him at the stadium, if there's a chance he can be saved then why not take it!" Yusuke shouted.

"You have no right. He only had a week at best. If your healer can do miracles then by all means, but no one can save him now." Kiyoshi said.

"You little-"

"Yusuke, battling you was a dream come true. You gave me hope, but you're no good to the world if you're dead." Inugami said. He grabbed Yusuke and tossed him onto the platform of the announcer.

"Wait!" Yusuke shouted.

"I'm ready Kiyoshi." Inugami said. He spread his arms and closed his eyes. Kiyoshi unsheathed his sword and charged towards him. He slashed downward from his collarbone to his waist.

"No!" Yusuke yelled, dropping from the platform and throwing punches at Kiyoshi. He evaded most of them before he tripped him.

"You've regained some energy by watching him die, but it's still not enough to defeat me. I didn't need to take his life. If only you granted his wish I wouldn't have to resort to this but you forced my hand. Now his death is on you." Kiyoshi said. He jumped off the battlefield and Yusuke walked towards Inugami. He sensed no energy.

"Damn you. If you only held on just a bit longer..." Yusuke said, mourning the fighter.

* * *

_And so the fight between Yusuke and Inugami has ended, but that just leaves three more fights to go. Hiei vs Tanya, Naota vs Satoru and Kurama vs Kiyoshi. Who will win the fights? Why did Kiyoshi need to harvest energy? Who is he about to revive? And will all our heroes survive? Find out all this and more on the next chapter of Someone I can Love!_


	12. Chapter 12

_God I went into such a writer's block! But then I had a dream about YYH and voila! I'm finally at the point where my story finally comes together, after so long! Yay! Hope you like this chapter!_

* * *

Yusuke was in a slump after Kiyoshi killed Inugami. He holed himself up after the battle, but he shouldn't be in there for long. The three battles for Shuichi, Naota and Hiei were coming up. Kuwabara kept knocking on his room trying to get an answer but just like the other times, there was no response. Kuwabara sighed. 'Man, he must be really depressed, too bad Keiko isn't here, she'd be able to knock some sense into him.' Kuwabara thought. He tried again.

"Urameshi! You gotta come out of there! We found Chu and the other guys that were missing!" Kuwabara said while banging on the door. No answer. "Ch, fine! If you wanna be a whiny crybaby then be my guest! I'm gonna save the world since your sorry ass is feeling too depressed to get up!" Suddenly the door flew open and Kuwabara kissed the floor.

"Can't you leave me alone for just one second!" Yusuke shouted.

"You've been in your room since you finished the fight with Inugami! You can't blame me for being worried!" Kuwabara said after he got up.

"Heh, whatever." Yusuke said, going back to his bed.

"You know Urameshi they found Chu." Kuwabara started.

"I heard you." Yusuke said.

"He saw Kiyoshi gathering a bunch of demon energy from all the demons that has gone missing. He might use it in the fight against Kurama, doesn't that worry you?" Kuwabara said.

"I have a feeling he's not gonna use that against him." Yusuke said.

"Why not?" Kuwabara asked.

"Call it a gut feeling. I don't know how to explain it, like when I looked into his eyes, he seemed sad. I don't know why but he really felt sorry for killing Inugami." Yusuke said.

"Then why do you think he killed Yuu? He wasn't dying from some disease like him." Kuwabara explained.

"That's because Yuu was planning on a coup." Kuwabara and Yusuke looked toward the door and there was Satoru. "Yuu was planning on betraying us, that's why he had to go. What better way to kill him when he can't fight back."

"He was still your friend! You didn't have to kill him!" Kuwabara shouted.

"You really think talking to him would have achieved our desired outcome? Using his illusions, he could've easily persuaded our army to betray us as well." Satoru said.

"What army! You know most of them were in it by force thanks to Inugami." Kuwabara reasoned.

"You are correct, but no matter, army or no army you will not stop our objective." Satoru said.

"And you're the good guy that's gonna tell us right?" Yusuke said sarcastically.

"You all are ignorant to believe that the conquering of all three worlds is our objective. We have been giving you hints, helping you little by little and you still cannot see our true goal!" Satoru exclaimed. "You are all blind."

"What do you mean helping us!? You're building an army, you attacked us, and plain leading us on, what is your deal!?" Yusuke shouted.

"A revival, that is what we're aiming for, that is why you were all gathered, and why we need you all. A revival for death." Satoru said.

"Stop being so cryptic and actually give us an answer!" Yusuke said.

"...From blue to golden, a missing member found anew, a path forged to the day we call tomorrow. That is all I can say." Satoru said, before running down the hall and disappearing.

"What was that all about?" Kuwabara said.

"I don't know but we're both too stupid to figure out his message, we got to see Kurama about this."

00000

Naota fidgeted as she paced around her room. Her battle is coming soon and she felt unprepared, scared, wondering if she has the power to defeat her enemy. 'Why did this day had to come? I know I trained for this but still, I'm so afraid.' Naota thought. She finally sank onto her bed again.

"Where the hell is Yasu? Usually he'd be here at least giving me sarcastic remarks on how I might lose." Naota said out loud. "This isn't like him, losing in the prelims, not being here at all since this tournament started, and he didn't even give us any new information towards the generals or the revolutionaries. This is way strange."

'Why do I have a weird feeling in my gut about tomorrow? I wish Yasu was here with me.' Naota finally thought before going into a restless sleep. As she slept, Kuwabara and Yusuke went on the hunt for Kurama before finally find him in the empty stands.

"Finally! Kurama, geez you're one hard guy to find." Yusuke said.

"It's nice to see you out of your room Yusuke." Kurama said.

"Yeah, yeah I'm off my feet and ready to kick ass again, but that's beside the point. We met up with Satoru a little while ago." Yusuke said.

"He had this weird cryptic message, saying that he doesn't want to conquer all three worlds, that he has another goal." Kuwabara explained.

"That is odd, considering that all of their actions towards us say otherwise." Kurama said.

"Yea! But this was his message, 'From blue to golden, a missing member found anew, a path forged to the day we call tomorrow,'" Yusuke said.

"Interesting." Kurama said, trying to figure out this message.

"He also got mad at us saying weird stuff how he's actually been helping us and that we're all stupid that we can't figure out his actual goal." Kuwabara said.

"Helping?" Kurama said.

"Yea, weird huh? I don't get this guy at all." Kuwabara said.

"Huh, you're telling me. I can't figure him out either, but I do have a feeling that this guy is telling the truth." Yusuke said.

"What!? After all he and his teammates did, you still believe him!" Kuwabara shouted.

"I know! Look, all I'm saying is that maybe we should trust him." Yusuke said.

"Heh, you've been around demons too long Urameshi, it's making you doubt your human side." Kuwabara said.

"What!" Yusuke started to give Kuwabara his usual Urameshi beat down when Naota interrupted them. She had bags under her eyes and gave out a really big yawn.

"Geez Naota, you died or something?" Yusuke said, giving Kuwabara a last punch.

"No, I tried sleeping but I failed, I can't stop worrying." Naota said.

"Is it about your fight tomorrow?" Yusuke asked.

"Technically, it's later today but no. Actually, It's about Yasu. Haven't you noticed that he hasn't been around since this tournament has started? And didn't you complain Yusuke that he hasn't given us any new information even though he's been with the revolutionaries for over a year? I don't know, it's giving me a weird feeling in my stomach." Naota explained, hugging herself for feeling afraid.

"Maybe he's just busy or something, you never know." Kuwabara said.

"Maybe..." Naota reasoned.

"You shouldn't worry about him, he's fine." Shuichi said. Naota pursed her lips, something was telling her that something was wrong.

"So you have any idea what the saying means?" Kuwabara asked.

"Unfortunately I don't have any ideas, the vagueness of the message does not give me any foundation to ultimately decode it. I'm sorry Kuwabara." Shuichi said.

"What message?" Naota asked.

"A message from Satoru, he met with Kuwabara and Yusuke. He talked about very odd things, such as helping us and the fact that this army and taking over Spirit world is not their true objective." Shuichi explained.

"What's the message?" Naota asked.

"''From blue to golden, a missing member found anew, a path forged to the day we call tomorrow'" Shuichi repeated.

"Blue to golden? Found anew, tomorrow...?" Naota pondered over what the message truly meant. 'Blue to golden? Blue...blue...what's blue? Truthfully the only thing that blue reminds me are the blue eyes of Yasu...wait...missing member!' Naota eyes widen at the result and she gasped.

"What? What is it?" Yusuke asked, noticing her reaction.

"Yasu..." Naota whispered.

"Yea we already told you he's probably ok, sheesh, you worry too much." Yusuke said.

"No, it's Yasu! A missing member found anew! Yasu hasn't been around us since we started this tournament He's only been here and there but has never stayed for long." Naota deduced.

"So? What's that got to do with anything? If he's a traitor then that's probably it." Yusuke said and Naota's faced dropped.

"Hey, hey, look I didn't mean to make you sad. He's just, you know?" Yusuke gave a weak laugh. "He just looks weird, that pale skin, black hair and blue eyes-" Yusuke stopped and thought about something. 'Blue to golden...why does that sound familiar?' Yusuke thought.

_he found his eyes changing from blue to golden again._

Yusuke gritted his teeth and yelled.

"Woah! What's gotten into you?" Kuwabara said.

"Kiyoshi, when I first met him his eyes changed. They were blue and they changed to gold...You don't think..." Yusuke started.

"Kiyoshi is Yasu." Shuichi finished. All of them felt their spirits wavered, but Naota felt her heart sank.

"...No, that can't be true..." Naota whispered.

"It makes sense. As soon as Kiyoshi appeared, Yasu has disappeared from our contact altogether and although Yasu has been undercover for more than a year, he has not divulged any new information. But why? What is his goal?" Shuichi wondered.

"A revival, that's what he said." Kuwabara said.

"We already know he wants to revive Akuma, that's why we're all here." Yusuke said.

"No, if he wanted to revive Akuma, he would have kidnapped us or like Chu explained, drained our energy to use it..." Shuichi wondered.

_"A long time ago, when the kekkai barrier between the human and demon world was still not in effect, I met a human priestess and she touched my heart. Although she was enamored with someone else, I still stayed by her side. When the three worlds war happened she lived but her side lost. She wanted to make his dream come true, and in order to do that she had to live past her years. So as she gave birth to their child, I split her soul into two. One I would take care of and the other would be passed down through her bloodline. Naota is part of her bloodline, the last one."_

Shuichi finally realized who he wanted to revive and looked at the crestfallen face of Naota. He realized that she was taking this betrayal hard, she was practically raised by Yasu, to face his betrayal hurt her immensely. So instead of revealing Yasu's true plan, he instead kept it to himself. 'No, I will face Yasu myself.' Shuichi thought.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara, Naota. I think we should let this matter rest, the battles are later today and we should at least get some rest before." Shuichi said.

"Yea, all this thinking is making my head hurt." Yusuke said, crossing his arms behind his head. He started to walk back to his room. Kuwabara complaining right behind him on not being able to sleep because of this. Shuichi looked tenderly to Naota and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Yasu will have an explanation for everything, right now you need your rest." Shuichi said. Naota looked at him for a second before sulking off to her room as well.

'Yasu, you will give me the answers for the questions I have, or so be it I will end your life without a second thought. It all begins, in battle.' Shuichi thought.

0000

"And without further a due let the semi finals begin! Today we have an exciting 3 matches, Hiei vs Tanya, Kurama vs Kiyoshi and finally Naota vs Satoru. Mind you all three of these battle will begin simultaneously so make sure to keep track of the fights!" Koto explained from her podium.

Chu watches on as the fighters went to their places. He couldn't shake off a nagging feeling that something wasn't right, but of what he couldn't place it.

"There you are Chu, I thought you'd be out here watching the fights." Touya said, walking up beside him.

"You know you're supposed to be resting now Touya." Chu said.

"I can't sleep, not when I know Naota is out there. Do you think she'll be able to fight?" Touya.

"Fight she will, win? Even I'm not sure." Chu said. "But I don't think any of these fights will end."

"What do you mean?" Touya said.

"I've got a sinking feeling in my stomach, something is not right." Chu said.

"You feel it too huh Chu?" Yusuke said.

"Hey! Urameshi! Haven't seen your face in a long time!" Chu said, wrapping his arm around Yusuke and rubbing his fist in his hair.

"Get off of me!" Yusuke laughed. "But seriously, you feel like something bad is coming right?"

"Yea, this feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me something is gonna happen." Chu elaborated.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one. Let's just hope nothing will happen." Yusuke said.

On the platform, Hiei gave a lazy stare at Tanya, her slitted eyes regarding him with caution.

"I don't know what your organization are planning, but whatever it is, know that I will kill you all for trying to assassinate Mukuro." Hiei said.

"Of course. If I could, I would take responsibility but unfortunately, things will not end the way you want them to Hiei." Tanya said.

"You are a fool to be leashed down to a leader that's not even stronger than you. Surprised? From the look in your eyes I suppose you are. You'd think I wouldn't notice? You are the dragon princess, the last of a rare species of demons. Why do you follow these extremists when you yourself can lead." Hiei asked.

"When the one you love asks you for a favor, do you not help them? That is all the reason I will give for my decisions."

'For when the time comes, this battle will end, quickly.' Tanya thought.

On the platform on their right side Satoru and Naota circle each other. Naota stared at him warily, wondering if she is strong enough to battle him. Satoru stopped and looked at her so dearly that it took her back. His hands reached behind his head and he took off the mask. If he was a normal human, Naota would have found him attractive.

"What's your deal? Why unmask yourself now?" Naota asked.

"Because I'm going to need power, and this restricts it." Satoru said, tossing his mask away. 'I am ready Kiyoshi, things will end.'

Finally on the third platform, Shuichi and Kiyoshi stand in a clearing, surround by the trees. Kiyoshi looked at Shuichi expectantly and Shuichi sighed.

"I know who you are, Yasu." Shuichi finally said. Kiyoshi chuckled.

"I knew you would figure it out. I'm surprised you didn't come to this conclusion sooner." Kiyoshi said.

"I have been...preoccupied." Shuichi said.

"Depressed more like it, how was it? Rejecting Naota? Oh don't put that face on Shuichi, it's easy to see how your choice is breaking both you and her." Kiyoshi said.

"I don't think that's the reason why we are talking. So, this is the result of all your planning. A revival,but it's not Akuma, it's the one you love." Shuichi said.

"Yes...I would have revived her earlier, but then you had to get in the way. If it wasn't for you, I would have succeeded." Kiyoshi said.

"But why? Why go through all this trouble for her? Why wait so many years to revive her?" Shuichi said.

"Because I am under a Blood Oath. I cannot break the vow I made to her. A long time ago she made me promise to resurrect her, I am only following my master's orders." Yasu said.

"That is not what you said to me a few years back, you wanted to see her or has that changed?" Shuichi said. Yasu opened his mouth but shut it again. He looked sad, his face fell and he let out a heavy sigh.

"Truthfully, yes things have changed. I have mixed feelings about my master now. Things...are not what they used to be." Yasu explained.

"Then why the deception? Why tell us about Akuma? About the location? Why raise this army?" Shuichi asked.

"Because whether I like it or not my master will resurrect Akuma, that's why we need to be prepared, why I gathered you all here, so you can defeat him. This army is a sham, I needed to be recognized as a threat so you all will do everything in your power to stop it. If not, then there will be no one to defeat Akuma. This is all I could have done." Kiyoshi explained. "But I am still under oath."

Satoru leaped towards Naota, raising his hand to touch her face.

"I have no choice."

They disappeared from their platform.

"She must live."

Naota landed roughly on her face. She coughed and spit out the little dirt that made her way into her mouth. She found herself surrounded by trees. She got up and dusted herself off and tried to clear her face from dirt. 'Where am I?' Naota thought. 'Where the hell is Satoru?' She started to walk aimlessly, hoping to find at least a path.

Shuichi clenched his fist, understanding that a blood oath cannot be broken or else it will cause the user's death. Even so, Shuichi wished there was some other way. It was then that Satoru leaped into the clearing, standing beside Kiyoshi.

"What is this?" Shuichi wondered.

"Do not worry, we will not attack you together. I needed him in order to complete my plan. Haven't you wondered Kurama how I brought all of this together? How I was able to bring the army together and still be with Naota?" Kiyoshi asked.

"No, I have not wondered." Shuichi said.

"There was too much to accomplish, so I had to split my own soul." Kiyoshi said. At that moment Satoru's figure shined and dissolved into half a sphere, glowing radiantly. Kiyoshi took that half and absorbed it into his chest. Shuichi felt an enormous pressure coming from Kiyoshi.

"So...this is your true power?" Shuichi said, flinching underneath it.

"Yes, even more so since this is my original body. I am now complete. You feel paralyzed, don't you Shuichi? You can't even move. Now is the time, this must end." Kiyoshi said. He peeled off his gloves and raised his hand. He bathed it in his energy and started towards Shuichi. He couldn't move, whether it was from his energy or something completely different, he was rooted to the spot.

Naota heard voices and started her way towards them.

And so.

She felt an enormous pressure of energy and started to run towards it.

Kiyoshi charged.

She moved past the shrubs and saw Kiyoshi running towards Shuichi.

And embedded his hand in Shuichi's chest. It was a swift kill, almost painless as well. Shuichi couldn't feel anything. As he fell, he looked over and his eyes widened.

'Naota.' Shuichi mouthed. The life in her eyes disappeared as his eyes closed in the welcoming embrace of death. His body hit the floor hard, Kiyoshi's hand covered with blood. He looked at her with his golden eyes and waited.

Naota felt darkness over her eyes, and felt the fairy cover them.

'Such sadness covers your heart, your love has died. You do not want to face this world anymore.'

Naota felt herself receding into her embrace.

'I have a way, come inside where no one will take your memories of him. Embrace the darkness, and I will live this life in your stead.'

And so Naota shut her eyes to the cold, hard truth.

And let herself sink into the dark recess of her mind.

* * *

_And so Shuichi has fallen, but what of Naota? And who is this fairy that is now awakening? Will her revival bring Akuma and total destruction? But what of Yusuke and his friends? Find out next time on Someone I can Love!_


	13. Chapter 13

_I'm here, sorry for the late update. Unfortunately i've been diagnosed with something that, let's just say i'm not a happy camper. Because of that life got in the way and I wasn't able to update. But here I am ready to rock again! I've also started with two new stories, one dedicated to a fan and one that I've been wanted to do for a while. But without further ado, here's the new chapter!_

* * *

Yusuke and the others could not believe their eyes when they saw the screen. Their friend, Shuichi, stabbed and left to die.

"Kurama!" Yusuke shouted before his senses overflowed with fear of a new power awakened.

"Oh my! What is this? A power that I've never felt before is surging from the battle grounds of Kurama and Kiyoshi!" Koto explained. Everyone looked toward the screen and a woman was found in the center of the energy. "The energy that's spilling forth seems to come from a woman, how odd, where did she come from?" Koto questioned.

"Urameshi, I know this is gonna sound weird but that energy feels almost like Naota's." Kuwabara said.

"What?" Yusuke said.

"I don't know why, but I get the feeling that Naota and that woman are the same." Kuwabara explained.

"Then we have to find a way to get there." Yusuke said. Kuwabara nodded and they both looked for the flying platforms.

The time is now, fly.

"I must go Hiei, too bad you didn't get to test your blade on me." Tanya said before a blue flame enveloped her body and she turned into an ocean blue dragon. With a beat of her large wings, she was airborne and flew towards the platform where the surge of energy was.

The woman looked around and brought her hands to her face. She rubbed her fingers together, touched her clothes, her armor and finally walked over to where Shuichi rested. She looked at him, feeling a cold shiver come across her body. Kiyoshi stood behind her, hearing Tanya getting nearer.

"Master, we must be leaving." Kiyoshi said.

"...Yes." She replied. Tanya landed in a clearing next to them and Kiyoshi helped his master onto her back. She looked back at Shuichi's body one last time before Tanya took to the air again. Meanwhile, Kuwabara and Yusuke were haphazardly trying to fly the camera golem over to where Shuichi was. When they came near the platform they ditched the golem and started running towards Shuichi. Finally they encountered him, lying still on the ground, blood pooling around him.

"Kurama." Yusuke whispered as he ran towards him. He knelt down and put his head near his heart, there was no pulse.

"Is he really...?" Kuwabara started. Yusuke balled his hands into fists and punched the ground next to him. He gritted his teeth and felt some tears in his eyes.

"Yea...he's..." Yusuke let out a shaky breath. "Dead."

"You should look closer Yusuke." Startled, Yusuke looked at Hiei who has walked over to where they were.

"What do you mean look closer! I listened, he doesn't have a fricking heart beat!" Yusuke yelled.

"As do I, and so do you. Did you forget that our hearts pulse differently than humans?" Hiei said nonchalantly. After a couple of minutes of silence, someone laughed. Yusuke shocked and with tears streaming down his face comically, saw how Shuichi started laughing.

"Uh...wait a minute, you're supposed to be dead." Yusuke said.

"Yes, well, how could I interrupt such a moment? You were in tears." Shuichi said.

"Hey Kurama you're ok! Urameshi you crybaby." Kuwabara laughed out before getting sucker punched.

"But, how, you're covered in blood." Yusuke said. Shuichi got up and pressed his ruined outfit.

"It's a superficial wound and most of the blood isn't my own. It's Yasu's." Shuichi said.

"Wait, Yasu? Wasn't Kiyoshi with you?" Kuwabara said.

"Kiyoshi is Yasu. They are the same person. We were wrong all along about his reasons and why this is all happening." Shuichi explained. He got up and dusted himself off.

"What are you talking about?" Yusuke asked.

"Yasu was never intending to revive Akuma, he wanted to revive his old master, the lover of Akuma." Shuichi said. "When he stabbed me, he also shared with me telepathically everything that he has done up to this point. We should be meeting with Botan, I'll explain everything."

The gang finally was on solid ground, away from the panicked crowd. As everyone gathered around Shuichi, he took a big breath.

"Before I begin, we must understand that Yasu has been doing this out of necessity rather than his own will. He was put under a blood oath to serve his master. At first he was doing as she ordered, out of love, but that changed." Shuichi started. "Let me start from the beginning."

00000

The only sounds coming from the forest was from a small stream, trickling down. Then a silver flash came onto the bank, his light blue and grey robes never touching the ground. His long silver hair in a pony tail and his bright golden eyes eyeing the water. He dipped his long clawed hands in the water and smiled. He took a simple drink and started to sprint along the bank until the stream turned into a river. Using his speed he took a single fish and started to cook it.

After it was well charred he started to eat but his dinner was interrupted when he felt a burst of spirit energy coming from behind him. Curiosity led him to a small clearing, a priestess with armor strode calmly towards a small leveled demon trying to scurry away.

"You foul wretched soul. Go back to your creator from whence you came!" She said, pulling out her long bow and stretching the string. He watched as her energy created a single arrow. She released it. The demon sought to get away but it was ultimately futile. The arrow lodged in his back, and with a burst of energy, he was dead. Golden eyes grew wide as the priestess continued on her way. His heart captivated by her strength, he began to follow her.

_That was the first time Yasu laid his eyes on her, but their first meeting, was far from perfect._

Yasu hit the ground hard, the arrow piercing his side hurt immensely. His gasps came out short as he scrambled towards the closest tree. He held pressure on his wound and looked towards his assailant. The priestess came to him, slowly and silently. She nocked her spirit arrow and Yasu wondered if this would be the end of him.

"Any last words creature?" She asked.

"Yes. May I know your name?" Yasu asked.

"So you can hunt me down as soon as you reincarnate?" She said.

"No. I have always marveled at your beauty. Putting a name on a beautiful woman like you would put me at ease." Yasu said. She lowered her bow and turned her back.

"Nobuko." She said simply and walked away.

_His obsession grew from there. His relationship began to mirror Sensui's and Itsuki's relationship from the past as they grew closer, she began to accept the idea of demons reforming. That is the reason why she allied herself with Akuma but Yasu saw the darkness inside his heart and how he lied to Nobuko. He became a traitor._

"King Yama! We found this demon entering our camp!" Special forces of the spirit world came and made Yasu kneel at King Yama's feet. Yasu peered up and saw the sheer size of him, but his head was forced down again.

"Who are you to invade the camp on your own? Your arrogance betrays you. Execute him." He said. Yasu began to chuckled. "I fail to see the humor in your predicament."

"I came here a traitor King Yama. I have a way to stop this war, but I need your help." Yasu said.

"And why should I believe you?" King Yama said.

"Do you have any other evidence to believe otherwise other than I'm a demon?" Yasu said. King Yama stayed quiet while his soldiers looked on.

"...You have a solution?" King Yama asked and Yasu smirked.

_From there Yasu gave him his seal which required immense amount of spirit, demon and sacred energy. Performing the seal would strip the users of most of their energy and so the candidates were chosen. Yasu was the one who would deliver his demon energy. Yasu betrayed Akuma, his ideal world where all 3 worlds to live in peace was a sham. He wanted to rule all and Nobuko couldn't see it. But there was a factor he didn't expect; Nobuko was with child._

Nobuko laid on a futon, a child was crying in Yasu's arms. Blood pooled around her, her breaths coming in short.

"Yasu..." Nobuko gasped out, "Your last order, for now. Split my soul and let me live on inside my descendants. Until the time comes for a true heir. My love...our dream will come true." Nobuko said as Yasu split her soul in two. One he carried in his, the other through her child.

_From then on Yasu continued to look after her descendants until someone suitable can handle the power of his master. He found Naota. He tried bringing back his master when she was younger but it proved futile._

"Either way, even if this body fails me, I can always take another body. After today, after you kill me, you will never remember me or Naota. Do it, I have to start searching again anyway." Yasu said, looking down, waiting for the killing strike. Shuichi got ready. Just then, a glowing energy overtook Yasu. Both boys gasped as a blast of energy erupted from Yasu's chest and into Naota.

"But that failed, in the end only their souls were joined as one. Naota's personality came out and her body was still not strong enough to sustain Nobuko. Yasu took Naota to train her and in 10 years she has come close to finally awakening his master, but instead his feelings for Naota grew stronger. He didn't want to lose Naota so instead he reformed his plan to destroy Akuma so his master can finally rest. He has planned this for several years but he is still bound to his blood oath. The factors to finalize his plan are all here now. Kuwabara, Hiei, Yusuke and I, we need to follow him and we need to put a stop to him. It's all up to us now." Shuichi finished explaining, letting the new information sink in.

"I'm in." Yusuke said simply. Hiei nodded.

"Yea! Let's go save the world again!" Kuwabara shouted. Shuichi let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you."Shuichi said, bowing his head.

The door leading to their room opened with a bang and in strode Koenma.

"Nice entrance, what you need your diaper changed?" Yusuke joked.

"No, the scroll. It finally opened. Here." Koenma goes to the small table in the middle of the room and unfurls it. A map with a trail. "I'm guessing this x is where Akuma is hiding out, and probably where Yasu and that woman went to."

"Alright then, what are we waiting for!" Yusuke said, getting up.

"It takes a week to get there by foot, you all be careful." Koenma said.

"We'll be back." Yusuke said, taking the map and getting on their way. Botan sighed.

"I wonder if they'll get out of this alright." Botan said.

"Even if they don't my father is already preparing for the worst. He's already gathering his special army in case they don't make it." Koenma explained.

"He doesn't trust them does he?" Botan said.

"He doesn't trust anyone, but we do have to be ready. Akuma is like a god, surpassing S class. I'll be surprised if we manage to get all of them back alive." Koenma said.

"Don't say that." Botan said, tearing up.

"We must prepare for the worst Botan. That's all we can do now."

00000

Yasu looked on as Nobuko meditates in his time sphere, his face in a scowl. 'She's becoming stronger very quickly. If Kurama and the rest can't get here in time...the seal will be broken, and all will be lost.' He looked behind him, a stone with various carvings, sticking up from the ground. An ominous energy emitting from it.

Nobuko felt her subconscious fall deeper until she found her meditating point. She saw Naota sitting in front of a dried up rose bush, her eyes holding no life, her knees up to her chest. Nobuko walked closer to her and sat next to her.

"You will be lost forever if you continue this way but that would be the best for both of us. We cannot live together. One must die for the other to survive. I know what it feels like to lose your loved one. I am sorry, but it had to be." Nobuko said, Naota didn't give back a reaction. She sighed, not knowing what do to comfort her other self. 'I know I must absorb her, she holds the key to unlocking my spiritual energy. I must realize my sacred energy once again. Soon my love, you will be resurrected, and we can finally rule to a world of peace.'

Yasu continues his vigilance over his master, wondering if Yusuke's gang is coming to finally put an end to this.

"Time is a resource I don't have. Please, you must come soon. If you don't...He will come back."

Akuma will rise again.

* * *

_And so Yasu's plan has finally been completed, but now there is a strange twist, wasn't he the villain we always knew? Will the guys get there in time to stop the resurrection of Akuma or will Nobuko succeed? Find out in the next chapter of Someone I can Love!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Well I finally finished another chapter, the end will come soon I just know it, now to go on a little rant about my characters starting with Hikaru._

_I really wanted to portray Hikaru more in this story, in my original sequel she was nowhere to be seen and the story felt very empty without her so I made sure to include her this time around. Of course she can't be in the further chapters because she decided to abandon that fighter side of hers, instead wanting to settle down. I consider her a foil to Naota, both are very different and through Hikaru you can see how both of them have grown as a person. Hikaru is Naota's tie towards reality and not the demon filled life she always know. She'll come back again, she's not out of the count yet! :3_

_I'll keep on ranting towards my other chapters, for now, relax and enjoy this one!_

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Kuwabara asked as they ran.

"We know our way around." Hiei said.

"Trust us Kuwabara, we will get there." Shuichi said.

"Can't we rest just a little? My legs are killing me! It's not my fault all you guys are demons." Kuwabara panted out.

"We can't! We gotta get there as fast as we can. If we don't, there's no telling what will happen." Yusuke said. "So shut up and keep running!"

"What you say to me Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted, catching him to him and butting heads.

"Your constant whining is annoying!" Yusuke shouted back. As they growled back and forth to each other they wound up running faster than Hiei and Shuichi. Shuichi chuckled and Hiei hn'ed.

"Idiots." Hiei said.

"But you can't deny their energy." Shuichi said. They kept running into the 3rd and 4th day and as they got closer Yasu sensed their energy. He exited out of the ruins and looked onto the horizon of demon world. 'Please, you must come soon. I fear the worst will happen soon.' Yasu thought. He goes over to see Nobuko again.

"Her power grows stronger with every hour. Why must it come to this? Why couldn't you just let him go? Why...why didn't you see me?" Yasu said, covering his eyes.

Naota

Her ears picked up a familiar voice but she couldn't place it. In this darkness, in this void, in her memories there is nothing. Nothing more but his death, his blood, his eyes devoid of life. 'It's all my fault. I couldn't protect him. I just stood there like a fool.'

Nobuko looked at Naota's retreating figure, she's almost completely transparent The more she focused on Shuichi's death, the more she retreats into the mind. The shock is working to Nobuko's advantage. 'If I was able to absorb her then I would be able to unlock more of my spirit energy. She is still stronger than me. Soon, once I unlock my sacred energy again, we will be able to finally resurrect my love.'

I can feel you.

You're getting stronger.

Release me.

"Gah!" Kuwabara shouted, waking up from his nap. He was covered with a cold sweat and he held his head, trying to catch his breath.

"You finally awake sleeping beauty?" Yusuke said, sitting in front of a fire.

"Oh, y-yeah." Kuwabara said.

"What's with you? You look like you've seen a ghost or something." Yusuke said.

"I...I had a nightmare. It was horrible! I saw a figure in the distance, but I couldn't really see him. He, He was covered with blood and those eyes! He was on top of a mountain of corpses. And then he saw me and, and...!" Kuwabara started before Yusuke punched him in the jaw. He grabbed the front of his shirt and shook him.

"Get a hold of yourself Kuwabara! Look it was just a nightmare, don't go freaking out on me yet! Weren't you the one who wanted to save the world again?" Yusuke shouted at him.

"He isn't the only one Yusuke." Shuichi said. Hiei and him were slightly trembling as well.

"Be grateful that your spirit awareness is not as refined at that buffoons, even you would crack under the pressure." Hiei said through clenched teeth.

"We are more than 3 quarters of the way and yet Akuma's energy can reach us here even though he's sealed. This does not bode well." Shuichi said, a cold sweat coming from his brow.

"Well at least that explains why there aren't any demons here stopping us." Yusuke said.

"Because those demons are smart. They are not rushing towards their deaths." Hiei said.

"Woah, woah, calm down Hiei." Yusuke said.

"Don't tell me to calm down ex detective!" Hiei said.

"Hey don't shout at Urameshi!" Kuwabara said.

"Or what? What can you do you lowly human!" Hiei said.

"That's it! I've had with you shorty! Come over here so I can kick your ass!" Kuwabara said.

"Enough!" Shuichi shouted. Everyone stopped. Shuichi sighed. "We are all frightened, that much is certain, but we can't fall apart here. Not yet. Let's keep moving. That is all we can do now." Shuichi reasoned. Kuwabara hmphed and complained about a dark haired shorty.

"Fine let's get going." Yusuke said and put dirt on the flames.

So close to freedom.

The time has come.

Yasu panted slightly, keeping up the time sphere really took a lot out of him but he knew that his master finally mastered the sacred energy. Soon he will take down the sphere and she will release Akuma. 'She mastered it sooner than expected. It takes a week to get here from the fighting grounds and yet she will be finished a day earlier. This isn't good, by the time they get here...' The sphere began to crackle like lighting and he sees his masters eyes open.

"It's still too soon! Master you will-!" Yasu started before the sphere cracked and was destroyed. He covered his face from the blast of a sudden gust of energy. He opened his eyes and saw Nobuko covered with golden energy. "Master please, this energy is difficult to control. You need more time!"

"No. The more time I waste, the more my beloved awaits. Do you have the required demon energy?" Nobuko asked. Yasu nodded and took out a pendant with a red orb in the center. He crushed it and redirected the power to his master. She groaned with pain, but the energy eventually settled in her body.

"This energy is enough for one shot. Please don't waste it." Yasu explained.

"That is all I need. Take me to him." Nobuko said. They started up stairs towards the top of the ruins where a gigantic carved out stone stood. The energy coming out of it reeked of bloodshed and killing intent. Yasu felt his chest constrict, he was so close to him.

"This is where he rests." Yasu said. 'I guess, my plan did not go through. They couldn't come here in time...' Nobuko summoned her bow and nocked an arrow. It shown like a rainbow, filled with spirit, demon and sacred energy.

'This is the end.' Yasu thought and closed his eyes, not wanting to see this moment.

"Haaaah!" Yasu looked in the sky and saw a blue point of energy. His eyes grew large when he realized who was it.

"Spirit gun!" A gigantic shot of spirit energy came at them and Yasu instinctively pushed Nobuko out of the way, ruining her concentration.

"Holy hell! How much stairs does this thing have?" Kuwabara said, panting once he reached the top.

"You should really get out more Kuwabara." Shuichi chuckled.

"Impressive, for a human that is." Hiei hned.

"Whatever shorty." Kuwabara said. Yasu felt joy in his heart. 'They're here.' A second. Yasu looked over and Nobuko wasn't with him.

Too late. Nobuko already readied her shot.

"Don't let her shoot it at the seal!" Yasu yelled with desperation. All four started to sprint towards her, but it was already too late. She fired her shot. It hit dead center and the stone shattered as energy poured out in a large crimson twister.

"Oh shit, I feel that." Yusuke said, his breath coming out very shaky. The pressure from the energy was nothing compared to anyone he has ever faced. He knelt down, not trusting his legs to support his weight. A blast covered the entire ruins and everyone was blasted back. Yusuke finally stopped being dizzy and got up. The ruins were gone and the entire surroundings of forest are gone. All that's left was a barren dirt clearing. He saw Nobuko walking towards a man with black medium sized armor. His black spiky hair playing with the wind, his eyes shown a dark purple. What surprised him most was his two long horns protruding from his forehead.

"So, that's Akuma." Yusuke said, trying to get up. Kuwabara was shaking beyond belief, his face a sickly pale.

"I'm gonna be sick." Kuwabara whimpered.

"Don't be frightened you fool!" Hiei shouted at him, he didn't do well with fear.

"We may have bitten off more than we can chew." Shuichi chuckled slightly.

"Shit, now what are we gonna do?" Yusuke muttered under his breath.

Nobuko walked him to him and caressed his face. Akuma let in a big breath and let it out. Nobuko's eyes are filled with tears. Yasu looked away at this reunion. He couldn't bear looking at the two of them. 'Why can't you see the truth master?'

"So, I have finally been released. The air permeates with the stench of blood. I am glad you are the one who has released me. I cannot say the same to your servant." Akuma said, his voice deep and masculine. Yasu felt a pile off dread in the pit of his stomach and then Akuma was in front of him in an instant. "You will pay traitor." He lifted Yasu by his neck and started crushing his throat. Yasu gasped for breath.

"Please Naota you must stop this!" Shuichi shouted, trying to reach Naota. A glimmer passed through Nobuko as she felt Naota's mind approach out of the darkness.

"Shuichi?" Naota seemed to see outside and see him. "He's...alive? He's alive! Shuichi! Hey priestess give me back my body!"

"Those ants are irritating, please get rid of them, my love." Akuma said sweetly trying to crush Yasu's windpipe.

"Of course, my beloved." Nobuko said, materializing a small katana.

"I won't go down without a fight!" Hiei shouted, taking out his own and rushing towards her.

"Hiei!" Yusuke shouted. Hiei's speed matched hers until she released her sacred energy and flung him out of the way. He summoned the darkness flame into his sword and tried again but she leapt up and grabbed his head and forced him into the ground, knocking him out in a pile of rubble. Kuwabara shouted, calling out his spirit sword and ran towards her. Yusuke running after him. They both tried to double team her but she was able to dodge most of their physical attacks. She summoned a small orb of energy, condensing it then letting it explode causing Kuwabara and Yusuke to be thrown back.

Shuichi could only watch as his friends went down one by one. Nobuko set her sights on him but he knew he could not fight her. Her appearance might have changed but Naota was still inside her, or so he hoped. She summoned her bow and arrow and aimed it towards him.

"Kurama, get out of the way!" Yusuke said, before coughing up blood. Shuichi calmed himself down and spread his arms, giving himself no defense. "What the hell are you doing!"

"Naota! I know you're in there. Please, you must fight her off! This isn't like you and you know it! I will not attack." Shuichi decided.

"How noble." Nobuko said, readying her arrow.

"No!" Naota shouted. Nobuko froze, not being able to move. Shuichi saw her trembling. "I won't let you hurt him."

"How disappointing." Akuma said letting go of Yasu and suddenly appearing behind Nobuko. "I give you one simple task, and you are not able to complete it."

"Akuma?" Noboku whispered.

"I see now. You have outlive your usefulness. Die." Akuma said. Nobuko's eyes widen but before Akuma could attack her Yasu tackled her out of the way. Akuma glared at them and Yasu crouched in front of Nobuko.

"I am useless...?" Nobuko muttered. 'All this time, all this time...?'

"He has been using you. You knew it but you let your love blind you." Naota said.

"I see." Nobuko said, before becoming transparent and vanishing into darkness. Naota felt guilty but she knew, she couldn't fight Akuma.

He pointed at Yasu and Nobuko and concentrated energy into his finger, before letting out a laser like spirit gun towards them. Nobuko quickly grabbed Yasu by his waist and jumped out of the way, gathering Kuwabara, Hiei and Yusuke.

"Yasu help me!" She shouted and he knew by her tone that wasn't Nobuko, Naota has finally taken control. Yasu took Kuwabara, Naota took Yusuke and Shuichi, finally seeing that Naota has made her appearance, quickly took Hiei. They ran towards the beginning of the forest, Akuma, slowly walking towards them.

"Wha-what happened?" Yusuke drawled, finally gaining consciousness.

"You were knocked out by Nobuko." Naota said.

"You're back!" Yusuke shouted.

"Yep, now, to start taking this crap off me!" Naota took off her armor and the top half of her priestess uniform, unveiling most of her upper half, her private parts covered by bandages.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Yusuke shouted with a red tint on his face, causing Kuwabara to wake up.

"That was getting in the way, this is too." Naota said, ripping off most of her bottom half to semi resemble long shorts.

"What's going on, why is Nobuko here! And why is she almost nakey!" Kuwabara shouted, pointing at her.

"I'm not Nobuko anymore, I'm Naota, can't you tell?" Naota said, stretching her limbs and cracking her neck.

"But what about Akuma?" Kuwabara said.

"He's still coming towards us." Yasu said, pointing to where Akuma was calmly striding towards them.

"Then that means..."Kuwabara said.

"We are all still doomed." Hiei said.

"I'm glad to see you are alright." Shuichi said.

"What's the point? We are all going to die soon." Hiei said.

"No we're not." Naota said, ripping herself a band to put up her hair.

"Naota?" Shuichi started.

"You guys are still mostly at full power right? Well besides Yasu. I want you guys to escape." Naota said turning to where Akuma was coming.

"What!" Yusuke shouted.

"Are you crazy?" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"You will die." Hiei said.

"Naota, why?" Shuichi wondered.

"I have spirit and sacred energy right now. I might not be able to kill him, but I might be able to put a dent in him. You guys get out of here while you still can, gather all the fighters you know. You might be able to take him down then." Naota explained.

"This is suicide! Please Naota." Shuichi pleaded.

"This, is the only way. You know, I really wish I could've gotten to know you guys more, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei. You seem like pretty cool guys. Yasu, even though you've done some, questionable actions throughout my life, I still care able you very much, please keep them safe. Shuichi..." Naota and him looked at each other, golden eyes to emerald eyes.

"Naota..." Shuichi whispered. She took a big gulp of air.

"I love you." Naota said, causing Yusuke and Kuwabara to face plant.

"This isn't the time for this!" Both of them said. Naota laughed.

"It might be the last time I would be able to say it. So with that, good-bye." Naota said, before running towards Akuma, the guys shouting for her to come back.

'Shuichi, I love you. Please, stay safe.'

* * *

_Akuma has finally risen but Naota has finally regained her body! But what will happen to the team now? Will Naota really die? Will Akuma take all of them down? Find out all this and more on the next chapter of Someone I can Love!_


	15. Chapter 15

_Second to last chapter! I can't believe i'm gonna finish this story, man, it's been such a long time. Well continuing with another one of my rants._

_Naota, I feel especially close to her as a writer because this was my first fanfic that I have re dreamed several times and she went through a lot of incarnations. Finally I settled on her, she grew as a character, I realize that as a child she couldn't really express herself but as an adult she finally was able to get out of her shell and be someone, Yasu really made her like that. I don't know whether people liked her or not, maybe I couldn't really express her as a character but I'm happy the way she is._

_Shuichi, I rewatched YYH to make sure I got his character down but I still feel like there could be more to his character. I realize that both Naota and him have always had a real hard time to express their emotions, but Shuichi was always like that, especially in the Maya side story they had within the YYH manga. I'm pretty good with lovey gooey stuff but their relationship isn't like that, especially the hurdle that they have to come across with Shuichi being a demon, remember he's only living as a human shelled demon, he will eventually shed that and become fully demon again, eventually._

_Ok enough of my ranting, here's the chapter!_

* * *

"Shit, what the hell are we supposed to do!" Yusuke said, balling his hands into fists.

"We are no match for Akuma. If we even try to fight, we'll all be dead in a matter of minutes. It's best to take this chance to leave while we can." Hiei said.

"No way shorty, we can't leave Naota here to fight him, she'll die!" Kuwabara shouted.

"She has made her choice." Hiei said.

"You heartless bastard." Kuwabara gritted through her teeth.

"We're wasting time when we can be escaping now." Hiei said.

"I am not leaving." Yasu said. "I have a duty to uphold. I promised to protect her, if I die then so be it.

"I will also be staying." Shuichi said. "I won't leave her alone." Hiei scowled.

"Well, if you're not leaving Kurama, then looks like I need to stay too." Yusuke said.

"Grr, if you're staying Urameshi, then I gotta stay too. Who else is gonna deliver your body to your funeral?" Kuwabara said.

"Same goes for you." Yusuke laughed.

"You are all fools." Hiei said angrily.

"Well Hiei, you can still leave, you are the fastest." Yusuke said.

"Hmph, we better get out of this alive. If not, I'll kill you all." Hiei said through gritted teeth.

"Foolish." Akuma said, suddenly in front of them all. He summoned a black orb of energy and everyone knew they wouldn't be able to avoid it.

"Damn it!" Naota said, getting in front of them before the orb exploded. She panted heavily, her body covered in bruises and cuts, smoking from the blast. "What the hell guys! You should've left!"

"We are not leaving. None of us are." Shuichi said with finality. Naota bit her lip, and looked away. Shuichi heard her sniffed, he knew she was crying. He approached her and hugged her from behind.

"You're stupid." Naota sobbed.

"I know." Shuichi agreed.

"I have a plan, but it will be difficult to carry out." Yasu said. "We have no way to defeat him through strength alone, all of us combine will get us nowhere quickly, but there is only one attack that he is incapable of avoiding; my soul reaper attack."

"You're gonna try to get his soul? How will that work!" Yusuke shouted.

"He's done it before to me, to himself many times." Naota trusted.

"Yes, but unfortunately I spent most of my energy encasing Nobuko in a time sphere so she can attain sacred energy. I am very much spent. We only have only shot. Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, I'm gonna need you to give Naota a portion of your demon energy. With her arrows, she can strike it directly to me once I'm in range of my attack, but while she is gathering the energy, we will need a distraction." Yasu said.

"I'm good at getting my butt kicked!" Kuwabara said.

"We will join you once we are done." Shuichi said.

"Yea, don't keep me waiting long!" Kuwabara said, giving a battle shout and running towards Akuma.

"Hurry, we don't have a lot of time." Yasu said. One by one they gave Naota their energy. She found it hard to manage while the rest of the guys continued to go and fight. Yasu sneaked his way into the battle and got into position.

"Come on Naota, you can do this..." Naota tried to convince herself but the energy was going wild inside her body. "Come on!" Her arm spasmed wildly while she tried to summon the bow. She heard her friends screams as Akuma kept beating them out of their minds. "Come out already!" She finally steadied her arm and out came her bow. "Alright, time for the- ah!" A rebound happened and her arm got covered in lacerations. She watched how Akuma easily toyed with her friends lives, enjoying their pain, laughing at their misery.

"Why can't I do this!" Naota shouted.

'Because you need more training, after all this isn't your attack its mine.' Naota looked behind her and saw Nobuko appear.

'Nobuko.' Naota breathed out. Yasu finally got into position and jumped on Akuma's back, trying to force his soul out. "Yasu!" Naota shouted. She ran towards him, wanting do to something.

'And what could you do? You do not have the power to stop him.' Nobuko said, stopping her.

'Then what am I supposed to do? They're dying!' Naota said.

"Calm down and focus. The weapon is an extension of yourself, feel it and it will come to you." Nobuko said behind her.

Naota concentrated and reached out her hand, the bow came out.

"I will help you, string the energy together into one single line, that is your arrow." Nobuko explained. Naota got into position and nocked her bow, making sure it was tight.

"Naota! Now!" Yasu said, struggling.

"Enough!" Akuma yelled, pushing everyone back minus Naota. He grabbed Yasu by the throat, his eyes filled with blood lust. "Time to end you!" Yasu grabbed his sword and cut off Akuma's hand. His hand reached towards Akuma's chest.

"It is time. With this arrow it will take away most of your energy so you are not burdened by it later in life. Our time together was precious my child. I will miss you, but you are needed, not I." Nobuko said, her presence becoming fainter.

"Nobuko?" Naota whispered, letting her arrow go, straight towards Yasu. Once it pierced him, Yasu diverted the energy into himself and was able to pull apart at Akuma.

'There!' Yasu saw a bright orb and reached for it.

"No! I will not let you betray me again, you little whelp!" Akuma said, grabbing his wrist with his other hand. Yasu felt himself being deteriorated by Akuma's energy before he felt a presence with him. He strove harder and grabbed Akuma's soul, it scorched his whole arm. "No! I am reborn! I will not die here!"

"Yasu!" Naota screamed.

"Naota." Yasu whispered as he finally wrenched Akuma's soul from his heart. Without his soul, Akuma's body hardened and fell to the ground where it shattered into thousands of pieces. Yasu's body was scorched to high heaven, his clothes shredded beyond belief. He saw the soul still in hand and shattered it. Akuma was no more. "It's done." Yasu finally allowed himself to collapse.

"Yasu!" Naota screamed, running towards him, the rest trying to go to them as well. Yusuke threw Kuwabara's arm around him as they both limp towards Naota and Yasu. Shuichi and Hiei dragging themselves as well. Naota is sobbing uncontrollably, she feels his life energy draining. "Yasu, don't...you'll be fine...we just..." She sniffed loudly, trying to wipe her tears away.

"It's ok Naota. I have lived for far too long." Yasu said.

"No! You'll be ok! We, we just need...to...to heal you!" Naota said, as she began to hyperventilate.

"Naota, Naota, look at me." Yasu said, cupping her cheek. She let out a couple of hiccups and she grabbed his hand. Yasu chuckled. "Never, in my wildest dreams, that I believed I would be here in your arms."

"Is he...?" Yusuke whispered and Kuwabara nodded solemnly.

"I wish I could be with you always, but that cannot be. That last attack completely drained me, I cannot heal and no healing done to me will do any good." Yasu explained.

"B-but." Naota started and Yasu lightly shook his head.

"I have seen you grow from a child to the woman you are today. You have made wonderful friends, you have grown so strong and I was able to live through it all with you. I have no regrets. Kurama, you lowly fox, if you don't take care of her I swear I will rise up and kill you." Yasu said.

"I will hold you to your word." Shuichi said. Yasu sighed with relief and looked into Naota's eyes one final time.

'Ah, yes this is what I always wanted. The love in your eyes it's all I've ever needed.' Yasu thought.

_"You are the one who's going to live with us?" Naota says uncertainly._

_"Yep, my name is Yasu Akogi, very pleased to meet you Naota." Yasu says bowing to her and in respect she bowed lower._

_"Take another shower and get a bandage on that cut, we might be a bit late, but that beats having to not go to school for a whole day. Don't worry, I'll make sure this is spotless." Yasu said, smiling softly at Naota._

_"I'll sneak you out of here for your birthday. No one deserves your treatment on your special day."_

_"To think that I'm going to be leaving soon, it was very nice spending this time together Naota, to think that next time we meet, you're going to be 10."_

_"Yasu you're such a slave driver! Can't you let me rest for just a second?" Naota said._

_"Nope, you're gonna get this right eventually keep training." Yasu said._

_"Yasu, Koenma has chosen me to be spirit detective, will you stay with me?" Naota asked._

_"That's a stupid question, I'm still here right?"_

_"I need you to protect Naota when I'm not here."_

_"How Inugami flirted with you? Of course." Yasu said, laughing. Naota grew a deeper red while Yusuke and Kuwabara shared confused looks._

_"Kurama, listen to me well, I will tell you my story."_

'Ah, to think everything has led up to this in the end. Do not mourn for me, a piece of me will always be with you Naota. I love you. Be well.' Yasu thought. His body began to shine as small orbs of energy began to dissipate from his body.

"Ah, no wait!" Naota said frantically, trying to grab the orbs, trying to hold on to Yasu, but it was too late, his body exploded into energy and his clothes left in her arms. All that was left was a small single orb of light. Naota held out her hands, and it landed in them, absorbed into her. As she felt his feelings, she put her face in her hands and sobbed.

"Damn bastard, had this all planned out, and didn't even get to say good bye." Yusuke said. A rumble from the distance came and they all looked towards it. It was Mukuro's moving fortress.

"Good timing." Hiei said, before fainting. Shuichi knelt beside Naota and patted her back.

It was over, Akuma was dead.

00000

Naota looked out to the landscape of demon world, getting tired of the red sky and constant lighting. After Mukuro got them, everyone slept for a day or more. Eventually they returned to the tournament, it continued after they left and they were almost seen as celebrities Unbeknownst to them a camera golem had followed them and filmed the entire fight with Akuma. Everyone knew the names of the Urameshi gang and of the current Detective pair.

Koenma had to go through serious convincing with his father that the situation was finally handled. It took a lot of pretty words and some serious spanking on Koenma to finally appease the ruler of spirit world. The 3 worlds are safe, Akuma is dead, Nobuko has finally vanished and Yasu is gone. Naota felt alone, the only family she has ever known is gone and a part of her felt missing.

'There's no arguing about it, I miss Yasu. If only I was stronger, then maybe this could have played out differently.' Naota thought. 'No, it probably wouldn't.' Naota sighed.

Shuichi looked at her from afar, she knew she was grieving Yasu's death, especially since Yasu transferred his feelings when he died. He started walking towards her and she noticed his presence.

"Hey Shuichi." Naota said, the bags under her eyes becoming very noticeable.

"Are you still thinking about Yasu?" Shuichi asked. Naota looked out the window, tearing up. 'Well now that was appropriate.' Shuichi thought sarcastically.

"Yea, he was always with me. He was my brother, my friend, the person who always looked out for me. It's because of him that I'm here today. I saw him at his worst, but I also saw him at his best. Although, I know it's gonna be tough to...go on without him. I miss him." Naota said, trying not to cry but failing. "I'm sorry." Shuichi hugged her and she sobbed in his chest. He rested his head on hers, letting her grieve. Naota wiped her tears once she finally calmed down. The rest of the gang saw them and said that it was time to go home. Shuichi held out his hand and Naota took it.

'I know, we'll see each other again. Bye Yasu, for now.'

* * *

_All thats left is the epilogue, it'll come sometime within the next week!_


	16. Epilogue

_And so here is the last chapter, the epilogue. And time for my final rant._

_Yasu, I made sure to make him a villain but I knew, I knew things would change with him. From the start I had planned his plan lol He was fun to write, the villainy was oh so awesome but I tried to make him a sympathetic character as much as possible. I feel as though he was the one who grew up the most from being truly evil to understanding love. I will miss you Yasu, everyone will.  
_

_Without further time wasting, here's the last chapter._

* * *

A young boy with spiky brown hair and eyes wearing a green sweater walked down a small road. Houses surrounded him and he lightly tapped on the gates with a stick he found. He hummed, being in a good mood because of what will happen later today. He found himself out of the neighborhood and follows a street to a ramen store that said 'closed.'

"Papa I'm home!" He said.

"Hey Toshio, me and your mom are almost ready. Wash your face, we're going to Kurama's today!" A man shouted from downstairs.

"Ok!" Toshio goes upstairs and into the restroom, passing his parents room. He opened the faucet and cleaned his face.

"Toshio are you almost ready?" Toshio looked at his mom, her long brown hair up in a ponytail wearing a conservative maroon long sleeved shirt and light blue long skirt.

"Yeah!" Toshio said with a toothy grin.

"Keiko, have you seen my jacket?" His dad shouted from the room.

"It should be in the closet, have you looked?" Keiko said, going over to the room. Clothes were scattered everywhere, making it a mess. Keiko trembled with anger and Toshio smartly goes downstairs.

"Yusuke!" Toshio heard with a series of 'ows' afterward. So they begin their journey towards Kurama's house. Toshio grabbing onto Keiko's hand and his dad Yusuke, with his cheeks swollen from being hit, lags behind. His hair down, growing past his neck. He had a few wrinkles here are there but Yusuke still looked around his late teens even though he's almost thirty years old.

"Keiko, I already said I'm sorry, can't you walk just a little slower?" Yusuke pleaded.

"After I spent all day yesterday doing laundry and cleaning, not likely. Let's go Toshio, your father will catch up to us later." Keiko said, speed walking.

"Keiko!" Yusuke begged before finding a tall man with orange hair.

"Hey Urameshi! Going over to Kurama's I bet." He said.

"Yo Kuwabara." Yusuke said and Yukina stood beside him, their twins following close beside her. Toshio left his mother's side to go to the twins. They were fraternal, one boy, one girl. The girl looked like her mother but her hair was more darker and the boy looked like his father but his eyes were of his sister and mother.

"Hi Suzu, Tatsuya." Toshio said. The three made their way ahead of their parents, even though they had just seen each other at school, they made no complaints seeing each other after.

"Man, they grow up so fast." Kuwabara said.

"Yep." Yusuke agreed.

"So Toshio is 9 years old huh?" Kuwabara mentioned.

"Yea but he said he can't wait to be 10 years old, that won't be until Dec 31st though." Yusuke said.

"Suzu and Tatsuya were excited to become 7, they both very much admire your son." Yukina said.

"Especially Tatsuya, he sees Toshio like a big brother." Kuwabara said. "But Suzu said she wants to get married to Aoi, she doesn't want to be with her daddy anymore." He pouted. Yusuke laughed making Kuwabara mad, making them go into one of their brawls. Keiko sighed and Yukina giggled. Some things never change.

They finally come to a house at the edge of the street. A sweet smell wafted into the air, they enter and find stacks of break and some cakes sitting behind a mirror. A woman with her hair pulled back put the finishing touches on a cake as she heard people come in. She washed her hands and goes to greet them.

"Hey everyone, how you all doing?" She asked.

"Hey Naota, we're all here. Where's Aoi and Kurama?" Yusuke said, trying to stop Toshio from eating some of the bread.

"They went out, their going to come back soon. You and Kuwabara want to help me set up the back yard? I still have to put out the chairs and tables." Naota asked them, her face remained the same with a few wrinkles under her eyelids but she looked good for a woman at 30.

"Alright, let's go Kuwabara." Yusuke said.

"I wanna help!" Toshio said.

"Me too!" Tatsuya said, followed their dads. Their mother's giggled and followed them out. Naota put her cake onto a plate and went upstairs to change. She let her hair down and put on her grey long sleeved shirt and some jeans. She put some lotion on her dry hands, pulling on her ring to not get it dirty. Putting it back on, she hears the ringing of the front door and goes downstairs.

"Where is everyone Dad?" Aoi said, his green eyes glistening in anticipation.

"You'll see." A red headed man chuckled. "Go to the bathroom and wash your face, I'll meet you downstairs." Aoi pouted and went up, passing his mother and she gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. Naota smiled warmly and took Shuichi's jacket and groceries. "Kuwabara and Yusuke helped me set up in the back, get changed quickly, ok Shuichi?" He nodded and gave her a quick peck. He took off his tie and put on some more comfortable jeans before joining his son downstairs.

"Let's go to the backyard for a bit." Shuichi said.

"Ok..."Aoi said, not feeling too happy. He opened the door.

"Surprise!" Everyone shouted. Aoi was definitely shocked and looked at his father. His mouth grew wide and he let out a laugh and smile.

"Happy Birthday." Came from everyone, Toshio, Suzu and Tatsuya greeted him and they went off on their own little world.

"Aoi, aren't you going to blow out the candles?" Naota said.

"Yea!" Aoi said, sitting down. He looked down at his chocolate cake, at his family, his friends and blushed.

'This is what you always wanted, wasn't it Uncle Yasu?' Aoi thought before blowing out the candles.

~Several Hundred Years Later~

"Ah man that cake tasted so good, You wouldn't believe. Well you would believe since you did it yourself. I didn't even care much about the presents later, I was just happy that everyone was there. Uncle Yusuke is still around you know, Toshio and him rule together. Me and Dad still wander from here to there. Suzu, Yukina and Hiei have settled into Genkai's old place as well. I still miss you, but I'm glad you were with us. Even Dad, though he tries to hide it misses you." A young man with short black hair and green eyes said.

"Aoi, let's go." A silver haired man said behind him.

"Yea, I'll be right there Kurama." Aoi said.

"Don't call me that, I'm your father." Kurama said.

"Yea, yeah. Got to go, take care. Mom." Aoi kissed his hand and laid it on a simple tombstone. He got up, letting Kurama spread his rose seeds and letting them grow, covering the tombstone. Aoi looked at the engraving, with the passage of time they have faded but he can still read them.

Naota Minamino-Yukino. Mother, wife, may your love transcend the passage of time.

* * *

**AND IT IS DONE! My story from years and years has finally come to an end. I am very satisfied with the end result :3 also for my next work will be Yu Yu Hakusho related but done very differently. Thank you all who reviewed my first and reviewed this one, you kept me going. Next stories are Despise me, Adore me, and Forgive me. Please read them if you want to. Until next time!**

**Lee Totema.**


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